hike pace. Wall Street economists had forecast just a 0.1 percent decline in the producer price index, which measures prices received by farms, factories and refineries, and had expected the so-called core rate to rise 0.2 percent. For the year as a whole, producer prices rose a steep 4.1 percent as oil prices jumped. It was the biggest calendar year gain since an oil price spike in 1990 sent producer prices up 5.7 percent. The department said core prices rose 2.2 percent last year, the largest yearly advance since 1998. In December, energy prices fell 4.0 percent. Like the overall decline in producer prices, it was the biggest energy price drop since April 2003, the department said. A third report showed U.S. business inventories rose more than expected in November while sales growth eased. The 1.0 percent inventory rise reported by the Commerce Department surpassed Wall Street expectations for a 0.6 percent increase and suggested inventory building helped contribute to economic growth in the fourth quarter of last year. Sales by manufacturers, retailers and merchant wholesalers rose a more modest 0.4 percent in November and the inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures how long it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales rate, rose slightly to 1.31 months' worth from October's record low of 1.30 months. -SPA 1928 Local Time 1628 GMT
