Wholesale prices surge most since '74

WASHINGTON -- Wholesale prices surged in November by the largest amount in more than three decades, led by huge increases in the cost of gasoline and new cars and trucks.

The Labor Department reported yesterday that wholesale prices jumped 2 percent last month, the biggest advance since a 2 percent increase in November 1974, in a decade when repeated oil shocks sent inflation spiraling.

Analysts, however, dismissed the latest increase as a one-month aberration. They still believe the inflation threat that gripped the country this year is beginning to ease.

"The headline number looks scary but the reality is that inflation is moderating," said Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

In other economics news, the Commerce Department reported that housing construction rose by 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.588 million units.

However, as with the inflation report, analysts said the overall number was misleading and not an indication that the severe slump in housing was coming to an end.

They noted that the rebound followed an even bigger 13.7 percent drop in October. Even with the November gain, housing construction was 25.5 percent below the level of a year ago.

And applications for building permits, considered a good indication of future construction activity, fell for a 10th consecutive month, dropping 3 percent to an annual rate of 1.506 million units.

Zandi said he believed the country was about two-thirds of the way through a severe housing correction that has already lowered overall economic growth by more than 1 percentage point.

The correction has forced builders to lay off thousands of construction workers and offer attractive incentives to move homes already built.

Economists had been expecting an increase in wholesale prices following two months of big declines. However, the 2 percent jump was four times bigger than the 0.5 percent increase they had forecast.