U.S. wholesale prices rose at their fastest pace since September due to higher energy prices, although excluding volatile food and energy costs, price pressures remained under control.

Meanwhile, U.S. home construction lost ground again last month, and U.S. industrial production in April had its fastest growth since December.

Producer prices for finished goods rose 0.9% last month after climbing 0.5% in March, the U.S. Labor Department said today. Excluding food and energy costs, core producer prices climbed 0.1% in April, matching March’s gain.

The April results were broadly in line with expectations, with the overall number slightly above consensus forecasts and the core figure slightly below.

Wall Street economists had expected overall producer prices to rise 0.8% and the core prices to rise 0.2%.

For the year, overall wholesale prices climbed 4%, and the core index was up 1.5% from year-ago levels.

Separately, housing starts fell for a third straight month, dropping by 7.4% to a seasonally adjusted 1.849 million annual rate, the U.S. Commerce Department said. It was the biggest decline since starts fell 16.1% in March 2005; the level of starts was the lowest since 1.782 million during November 2004.

Wall Street expected a much smaller drop in April groundbreakings. Economists had forecast construction down 0.5% to a 1.950 million annual rate.

Overall industrial production increased 0.8% in April, following an unrevised 0.6% advance in March, the U.S. Federal Reserve said. April growth was broad-based across the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors.

April industrial capacity utilization rose to 81.9% from 81.4% in March, which was previously reported at 81.3%.

The report showed faster industrial output than Wall Street expected. Economists had indicated industrial production had increased 0.5% last month, and it showed capacity utilization was at 81.5%.