WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale inflation went up last month on higher energy prices.

Still, the overall increases were slightly less than economists had forecast. U.S. markets leaped higher immediately on the new inflation data.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.2% last month from November, down from a 0.4% gain the month before. Compared to a year earlier, producer prices rose 3.3%, the biggest jump since February 2023 and up from a 3% gain in November.

A 3.5% November-to-December increase in energy prices — led by a 9.7% increase in gasoline prices — pushed the overall index higher. Food prices fell 0.1% last month.

Excluding food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale inflation was unchanged from November but up 3.5% from a year earlier.

The producer price report came out a day before the Labor Department reports on consumer prices. Its consumer price index is expected to rise 0.3% from November and 2.8% from December 2023, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

Inflation flared up in early 2021 as the economy rebounded with unexpected strength from COVID-19 lockdowns, overwhelming factories, ports and freight yards and leading to shortages, delays and higher prices.

In response, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate — the fed funds rate — 11 times in 2022 and 2023.

Inflation came down from the four-decade highs it reached in mid-2022, giving the Fed enough confidence to reverse course and cut rates three times in 2024. But the progress on inflation has stalled in recent months, and year-over-year increases in consumer prices remain above the central bank’s 2% target.

Many economists are worried that President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to impose tariffs on foreign goods and cut taxes will push inflation higher.