Washington, Jul 14 (IANS): US wholesale prices rose slightly in June after a consecutive decline from March through May.

The Producer Price Index, which measures price changes at factory gates, increased 0.1 percent on seasonally adjusted basis, as higher food costs were partly offset by a drop in energy prices, reported Xinhua citing the Labor Department.

Energy prices dipped 0.9 percent in June, the fourth straight decline. Food costs moved up 0.5 percent in June, the largest increase since November 2011.

Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, the so-called "core" wholesale prices
rose 0.2 percent in June from the previous month.

The wholesale prices rose 0.7 percent over the past 12 months ending June, the same rate as in May.

The Federal Reserve officials said in its June policy meeting that inflation declined recently, mainly reflecting the reductions in oil prices, and the long-run inflation expectations continued to be stable.