The biggest jump in gasoline prices in six months helped push U.S. inflation at the wholesale level higher in May, although inflation outside of energy remained well contained.

The U.S. Labor Department reported today that wholesale prices rose by 0.9% last month, worse than the 0.6% advance that analysts were expecting.

The price surge was led by a 10.2% jump in gasoline prices, the biggest one-month increase since last November.

However, food prices declined for the first time in seven months and, outside the volatile food and energy sectors, core inflation posted a moderate 0.2% increase. That was slightly better than the 0.3% advance that analysts were expecting.

The 0.9% rise in the producer price index marked the fourth consecutive hefty increase in this gauge, which measures cost pressures before they reach the consumer. Wholesale prices had risen by 0.7% in April, 1% in March and 1.3% in February.

In other U.S. economic news, claims for unemployment benefits totalled 311,000 last week, unchanged from the previous week.