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# Wholesale prices are up 6.5% in a year, the most since 2022. Food jumped 1.3% in October.
- URL: https://www.workersrights.news/october-2026-ppi-wholesale-prices-6-5-percent-food-up-1-3-percent/
- Published: 2026-11-14T16:23:35.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-14T16:23:35.000Z
- Description: Truck freight costs rose 3.9% in a month, and the Fed meets Dec. 8-9 with a rate hike priced in.
- Author: WorkersRights.News Team
- Tags: Economy

Prices that businesses pay rose 0.3% in October and are up 6.5% from a year earlier, the biggest 12-month jump since November 2022, the [Bureau of Labor Statistics reported](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm?ref=workersrights.news) Friday. Food led the way, rising 1.3% in a single month.

The Producer Price Index tracks what producers get paid for goods and services before they reach store shelves, so it is an early read on what shoppers may pay later. October's monthly gain was a bit below the 0.4% economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected, [CNBC reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/13/ppi-inflation-report-october-2026.html?ref=workersrights.news), but the yearly rate kept climbing.

## Where the increases hit

- **Food** rose 1.3% in October, BLS said. Raw milk, an input farther up the supply chain, jumped 8.2%.
- **Goods** overall rose 0.5% after a 2.5% surge in September. Over the past 12 months, goods prices are up 10.2%, the largest gain since October 2022, CNBC reported.
- **Trucking** costs climbed. Freight hauling by truck rose 3.9%, and transportation and warehousing made up three-fourths of the 0.2% rise in services.
- **Energy** slipped 0.1%, and diesel fuel fell 7.9% for the month.
- **Core prices**, which leave out food, energy and trade margins, rose 0.5% for a second straight month and are up 4.9% over the year.

Further back in the supply chain, the pressure is heavier. Prices for processed goods that businesses buy to make other products are up 14.6% in a year, and unprocessed goods are up 16.9%, according to BLS.

## What it means for your paycheck

Wages aren't keeping pace. Private-sector wages and salaries rose 3.1% in the year ending in September, and after inflation they fell 0.6%, according to the [BLS Employment Cost Index](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nr0.htm?ref=workersrights.news). In October, real hourly pay for all private workers was flat, and real weekly pay for hourly, non-supervisory workers fell 0.3%, [BLS reported](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm?ref=workersrights.news) Tuesday.

This week's numbers follow a \[hotter-than-expected consumer price report\](https://www.workersrights.news/october-2026-cpi-prices-up-0-4-percent-paychecks-flat-fed-rate-hike/. Fed officials say the pressure is spreading. "Inflation is rising; it's proved far more persistent than we predicted at the beginning from the supply shocks," Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC. Policymakers are concerned that price pressures from the Iran war, higher fuel costs and tariffs are moving through the economy, CNBC reported.

## The Fed is set to raise rates

Markets fully expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by a quarter point at its Dec. 8-9 meeting, with slight odds of a half-point hike, CNBC reported. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, said the producer data is unlikely to change that plan "because the CPI data was already outside their comfort zone."

A rate hike is aimed at cooling prices, but it lands on working households first: higher payments on credit cards, car loans and new mortgages, and slower hiring as companies borrow less.

## What's next

The next producer price report comes out Dec. 15, after the Fed's decision. If your employer is setting 2027 raises now, bring these numbers to the conversation: after inflation, private-sector pay fell over the past year.

### Sources

- [Producer Price Indexes – October 2026](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm?ref=workersrights.news) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- [Employment Cost Index – September 2026](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nr0.htm?ref=workersrights.news) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- [Real Earnings – October 2026](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm?ref=workersrights.news) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- [Wholesale prices rose 0.3% in October, putting annual rate at 6.5%, the highest in nearly four years](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/13/ppi-inflation-report-october-2026.html?ref=workersrights.news) (CNBC)