term interest rates 14 times since June 2004 to relieve the pressure of rising prices. "What I find troubling is more increases in the core and intermediate levels so there're more (price) pass-throughs," said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics in Pepper Pike, Ohio. "Does the Fed stop raising rates after March? No. If these figures stay hot, they are going to keep raising," he added. The producer price index was up 5.7 percent from January 2005, driven mostly by a 25 percent surge in the price of finished energy goods. However, core prices have increased just 1.5 percent in the last 12 months, suggesting energy price increases have not yet passed through to other goods. Energy prices were flat in January. The cost of residential electricity soared a record 3.0 percent, while the price of residential natural gas climbed 0.8 percent. But those increases were offset by a 3.5 percent drop in the price of gasoline and a 6.8 percent decline in liquefied petroleum gas. --More 23 25 Local Time 20 25 GMT
