Wholesale prices rose 1.9 percent last month, the biggest one-month jump in 15 years.

And the average hourly wage rose by 9 cents, the biggest one-month jump ever recorded, a level "noticeably above the inflation rate," as The New York Times reported.

Rising energy prices made the biggest contribution to the rise in the overall rate, which was the largest one-month jump since last April.

Japan's jobless rate made it biggest one-month jump in four decades in April, the Government said yesterday.

Gas prices jumped 23 cents a gallon in March, the biggest one-month jump in a decade or more, and the Bush administration is nervous.

The index rose by 1.1% in September, the largest one-month jump in a decade.

The 7 cents represented the biggest one-month jump in more than a decade.

Economists wondered if so huge a one-month jump was a statistical error, but Mr. Plewes said that the number of "involuntary part-timers" has jumped similarly in the past.

July's increase was the fastest pace of growth since March 2000 and the biggest one-month jump since December 2000.

American consumers increased their borrowing by $7.67 billion in June, the largest one-month jump in six years.