Soaring Food Costs Push Up Price Index : Economy: October prices are surprisingly high, but analysts predict a break in inflation in months ahead.

Wholesale prices, pushed up by the steepest increase in food costs in 22 months, rose 0.4% in October, the government reported today.

The increase in the Labor Department’s producer price index was markedly smaller than the 0.9% jump in September but was still surprisingly high to many economists.

The September and October advances followed rare monthly declines in July and August.

Prices have been on a roller coaster this year, first surging ahead and then easing during the summer after food and energy costs moderated.

For the first 10 months of the year, wholesale prices have been rising at an annual rate of 5.2%, compared with an increase of 4% for all of 1988.

Food costs rose a steep 1.4% in October, following declines in three of the four previous months. Analysts said the jump in food costs reflected in part bad weather that affected California and Florida vegetable crops.

Vegetable prices shot up 18.9%. Other big advances in the food category were a 9.5% increase in pork costs, a 5.6% rise in fish prices and a 4.9% increase for fruit.

The overall 1.4% advance in food costs was the biggest advance since a 1.5% rise in January, 1988. But analysts said the one-month increase in the volatile food category was not alarming given the fact that food costs had been falling.

Economists said they continue to believe that slower economic growth will translate into lower inflationary pressures in the months ahead.

“Assuming that food and energy prices remain relatively stable, we expect further moderation in prices in 1990,” said Stacy Kottman, assistant director of economic forecasting at Georgia State University.

Energy costs, which had been the driving force behind the September spurt in the overall index, moderated in October to a slight 0.2% increase, far below the 6.5% surge in the previous month.

Gasoline prices were up 2.3% after a 10.6% jump in September. The cost of natural gas dropped by 2.5% while home heating prices fell by 0.5% last month.

Wholesale prices excluding energy and food costs were up a tiny 0.1% in October. Many analysts consider this figure a better gauge of underlying inflationary pressures.

New-car prices fell by 1.4% in October at the start of the new model year.