April's Rise In Producer Prices Slight: Analysts Call 0.2% Gain 'Very Positive'
Wholesale prices edged up only 0.2 percent during April as a drop in vegetable prices helped offset an increase in the cost of gasoline, the Labor Department said yesterday.</br></br>The Labor DepartmentÛªs producer price index, which measures prices before they reach the consumer, suggested that inflation will continue to slow down this year, analysts said.</br></br>Including AprilÛªs tiny increase, wholesale prices are rising at a modest annual rate of 1 percent. It was the fourth consecutive month of modest price increases at the wholesale level.</br></br>ÛÏThis is a very positive report on inflation,Û said Allen Sinai, chief economist of the Boston Co., an economic and investment advisory firm. Û÷It not only showed low inflation, it showed low inflation anyway itÛªs sliced.Û Price increases were low across the board, with the exception of tobacco.</br></br>Consumer prices, however, have been rising at a much faster rate, and analysts, policy makers and business managers will be watching the consumer price index due out today. In the first three months of the year, the CPI rose at an annual rate of 3.5 per-