Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale prices fell 0.1% last month from January, first drop since July. Core producer prices rose 3.4%, lower than the 3.8% year-over-year gain in January. The numbers were all lower than economists had expected.

Wholesale Producer Price Index inflation stayed flat in February while economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a 0.3% increase. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday PPI inflation was 3.2% for the 12 months ended in February.

While the overall producer price index came in flat, prices for goods increased by 0.3% in February, while services costs declined by 0.2%. On an annual basis, the PPI increased by 3.2%, down from 3.7% a month earlier. The flat reading for February beat expectations of economists, who had forecast an increase of 0.3% for the month.