The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — rose ...

The producer price index was expected to increase 0.4% in December, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate.

The December figure marked a deceleration from monthly producer-price increases in November, when prices rose by 0.4%.

However, the global pool of oil and the ease with which oil moves around the world levels some of these price pressures, and no one oil producer to completely dominate the world market. From time to ...