The inflation surge is hitting businesses, too

Iran warThe inflation surge is hitting businesses, tooThe Producer Price Index, which tracks costs businesses pay, rose at its fastest rate since 2022, adding to worries that higher energy costs tied to the war with Iran are mounting.President Donald at John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, on Tuesday.Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 11, 2026, 9:58 AM EDTBy Steve KopackBusiness inflation in May surged to its highest level since late 2022, as high fuel prices triggered by the war with Iran ripple across the U.S. economy. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.New data released Thursday showed that from April to May, the Producer Price Index rose 1.1% month-over-month. Even more notably, it rose to 6.5% from the same period a year ago. The year-over-year reading was “the largest 12-month rise since moving up 7.4% in November 2022,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a statement.The data comes one day after the Consumer Price Index showed that overall inflation rose in May to its highest level since early 2023.Core PPI, which excludes food and energy costs, rose to 4.9% annually. The jump in producer prices surprised economists and drew renewed attention to President Donald Trump’s remark Wednesday at the White House where he said, “I love the inflation.”“When the war is over, it’s coming down, it’s going to come down like a rock,” Trump added. Trump argued later on Wednesday that his words had been taken out of context, telling The New York Post that “the numbers are much lower than anticipated.”But neither Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index nor Thursday’s business inflation report were lower than expected. The direct line from higher gas prices to higher inflation was stark: BLS said that 80% of the surge in the overall PPI figure Thursday was attributable to surging energy costs.Taken together, the PPI and CPI readings reveal an economy under ever more stress...