inflation?

CNN/Money:

Sharp gains in the cost of cigarettes and autos helped push core U.S. producer prices up at their fastest rate in six years in January, the government said Friday in a report that fanned inflation fears.

Overall, the producer price index, which measures prices received by farms, factories and refineries, rose just 0.3 percent in the month, the Labor Department said. But the core index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, shot up 0.8 percent, the biggest gain since December 1998.

Wall Street economists had forecast a 0.2 percent gain in both overall and core producer prices and the higher-than-expected figures hit markets hard.