WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 -- U.S. producers raised prices last month faster than at any point in four and a half years, and Wednesday's consumer report may have shown only the first part of the bill. The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 1.3 percent in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday, the biggest monthly gain since March 2022.

Over twelve months the index climbed 6.3 percent, the largest annual rise since December 2022. The September CPI inflation figure released a day earlier was 3.7 percent. That 2.6-point gap between what producers receive and what households pay is the pass-through question this report raises and does not settle.

Gasoline is the clearest piece of it. Gasoline prices at the producer leve...