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WASHINGTON—Wholesale prices in the United States rose 7.4 percent in November from a year earlier, a fifth straight slowdown and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures across the economy are continuing to cool.
The latest year-over-year figure was down from 8 percent in October and from a recent peak of 11.7 percent in March. On a monthly basis, the government said Friday that its producer price index, which measures costs before they reach consumers, rose 0.3 percent from October to November for the third straight month.
Still, a measure of "core" producer prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, accelerated, rising 0.4 percent from October to November. The core figure had risen just 0.1 percent from September to October. Looked at over the past 12 months, though, core producer prices were up 6.2 percent in November, less than the 6.7 percent in October....