Wholesale prices increased 1.4% in May, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. This rise followed a 0.2% advance in April and a 1.1% increase in March.
 
At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by producers of intermediate goods rose 2.9% following a 0.9% advance a month earlier, and the crude goods index increased 6.7% after climbing 3.2% in April.
 
In May, the index for finished energy goods turned up 4.9% after falling 0.2% a month earlier. Prices for finished consumer foods increased 0.8% following no change in April. By contrast, partially offsetting the acceleration in the finished goods index, the rise in the index for finished goods less foods and energy -core inflation -slowed to 0.2% from …