Wholesale prices shot up at double the expected pace in January, propelled higher by big increases in energy costs. The surprisingly large jump was viewed as a temporary blip and not the start of inflation problems, however.

The Labor Department said Thursday that wholesale prices rose 1.4 percent last month, reflecting higher costs for gasoline and other energy products. Private economists had expected a 0.7 percent increase.

The 1.4 percent January rise in the department’s Producer Price Index was the biggest gain since a 1.5 percent increase in November.

In another report Thursday, the Labor Department said that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits jumped to 473,000 last week, an increase of 31,000 over the previous week. Economists had expected a decline and the large increase served notice that the labor market is still facing serious problems.

[Read](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123843109&ft=1&f=1001 “Read the Article”) (NPR)