Wholesale prices jumped sharply in May, with the Producer Price Index for final demand climbing 6.5% over the year—the largest 12-month increase since November 2022. The National Association of Manufacturers released the data on June 15, 2026, revealing that monthly producer prices rose 1.1% in May, matching April's pace. The numbers paint a picture of accelerating inflation at the wholesale level, driven primarily by an unprecedented surge in goods costs.
The report breaks down the increases across multiple dimensions. Prices for goods within final demand surged 2.8% in May alone—the largest monthly increase since data collection began in December 2009—after rising 1.9% in April. Services prices moved up a more modest 0.3% in May, following a 0.7% gain in April. Core producer prices, excluding foods, energy and trade services, climbed 5.1% from May 2025, marking the largest yearly increase since October 2022. Within final demand goods, gasoline prices jumped 23.4%, accounting for over half the May advance, while pork prices fell 10.1% from April and 12.3% from the previous year.
The intermediate demand categories showed even more dramatic movement. Prices for processed goods for intermediate demand rose 3.5% in May—the largest advance since March 2021—and climbed 13.3% over the year, the biggest annual increase since August 2022. Diesel fuel prices jumped 15.7% in May alone, accounting for nearly a quarter of the monthly increase, after rising 12.2% in April. Year-over-year, gasoline and home heating oil prices were up 69.5% and 87.0%, respectively. Unprocessed goods for intermediate demand moved up 4.9% in May, with crude petroleum prices surging 11.8% and accounting for more than two-thirds of the monthly rise. Crude petroleum prices are up 78.2% over the year, while natural gas prices fell 18.2% in May and are down 27.1% from May 2025. Over the year, unprocessed goods prices soared 22.2%, the largest gain since September 2022.
The data reveals a wholesale pricing environment increasingly dominated by energy volatility, particularly in petroleum products. Within final demand services, margins for portfolio management jumped 4.8%, accounting for over 40% of the May increase in that category. The report shows energy costs rippling through the supply chain at multiple levels—from crude petroleum to refined fuels like diesel, gasoline, and heating oil. The year-over-year spikes in intermediate goods, especially processed and unprocessed petroleum products, suggest manufacturers face mounting input costs that will likely flow through to consumer prices in coming months. Natural gas provided the only major energy offset, dropping sharply amid what the data suggests is either oversupply or reduced demand.
The acceleration in producer prices from 5.7% in April to 6.5% in May signals that wholesale inflation isn't cooling—it's heating up. The record monthly jump in goods costs, combined with the largest yearly gains in core and intermediate prices in nearly two years, points to sustained pressure on manufacturers' margins. With energy costs driving the bulk of increases and petroleum products showing no signs of stabilizing, producers will likely continue passing costs downstream, keeping consumer inflation elevated through the summer months.