According to official figures released Wednesday, rising fuel prices from the Ukraine conflict propelled US wholesale inflation up substantially in March, increasing the year-over-year increase to 11.2 percent.

That was the biggest annual increase since the Labor Department reformulated the producer price index (PPI) in November 2010, and follows three months of wholesale inflation over 10 percent.

Prices have been accelerating for months as the US economy recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns, and demand outstripped supply.

But the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a major energy producer, and the Western sanctions on Moscow, have sent oil prices soaring worldwide.

The data follows Tuesday’s report showing consumer prices in March increased at the fastest pace since December 1981.

“Ouch,” economist Ian Shepherdson said of the data, citing “the chaotic conditions following the invasion of Ukraine.”

But some of those factors “will not persist,” he said, adding “the worst is over.”

Excluding energy, food and trade services, the annual PPI rose seven percent.

“Core PPI inflation probably has now peaked,” Shepherdson said, “but the speed of the downturn over the next few months is uncertain; serious supply chain problems persist.”

The 1.4 percent gain in headline PPI over February beat experts’ estimates, thanks to a 4.7 percent increase in energy.