THE ECONOMY

Rise in Producer Prices Reported: Wholesale prices rose 0.5% in December, the Labor Department said, matching November’s rise as cold weather in the month led to an upward trend in energy costs. However, with the impact of often-volatile food and energy prices removed, the so-called core rate was much more benign, rising only 0.1% after a 0.4% increase in November. The new details on the quiet course of inflation came just hours before the Federal Reserve Board decided to cut short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. The December rise in prices left inflation as measured by the producer price index at 2.2% for 1995. Energy prices were clearly the villain in the overall rise. They jumped 3.3% in December after falling for six months in a row, including 0.5% in November. The rise in energy costs was the largest since October 1990, when they rose 7.5%. Gasoline prices jumped 11.8% in December, and heating oil was up 11%.