Wholesale Inflation Surges 0.5% : Economy: Price increases in food, tobacco and automobiles bring the annual inflation rate to 6.1%.

Inflation at the wholesale level surged an unexpectedly high 0.5% in November, the Labor Department said today, as slightly cheaper oil failed to offset costlier food, tobacco and automobiles.

“It’s another terrible number. We have not gotten rid of inflation,” said economist Michael K. Evans, a Washington consultant. The increase translates into a 6.1% annual inflation rate.

Economists said the advance in the Producer Price Index, which followed October’s steep 1.1% spurt, may delay any Federal Reserve Board move to lower interest rates. Most economists had anticipated a wholesale price rise of 0.1% to 0.3%.

The core rate of wholesale inflation--considered a more reliable indicator of long-term price trends because it excludes the volatile food and energy costs--also gained 0.5%, the department said.

Analysts said the surge in the core rate appeared to reflect the impact of higher costs for petroleum-based products.

The bulk of the overall PPI increase was in food, tobacco and car prices, economists said. Tobacco makers raised prices on their products to beat a federal tax that takes effect in January, and auto makers eliminated some discounts last month, analysts said.

In another economic report today, the Federal Reserve said industrial production weakened in November for the third straight month, falling back 1.7% to the lowest level since last January. It was the steepest decline since output plunged 2% in December, 1982, as the nation began crawling out of the last recession.

And the Commerce Department reported that business inventories rose 0.4% in October, a moderate increase that analysts say is unlikely to accelerate already growing unemployment.

PRODUCER PRICE INDEX Nov. ‘89: +0.1% Oct. ‘90: +1.1% Nov. ‘90: -0.5%