U.S. July PPI rises 1.2% vs. 0.3% expected (by Robert Schroeder)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. producer prices rose by a bigger-than-expected 1.2% in July, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, driven higher by prices for energy, food and other products. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for an increase of 0.3% in July. Excluding food and energy, producer prices rose 0.7% in the month, which was also higher than expected. In July, energy prices rose 3.1% and food prices climbed by 0.3%.