WASHINGTON—Wholesale prices of tread rubber jumped 2.8 percent from March to April and were 2.4 percent ahead of April 1999 levels, according to the Labor Department's Producer Price Index.
Prices of radial passenger tires, as well as radial truck and bus tires, rose 1.1 percent in April from March, with prices of all-season passenger tires climbing 1.6 percent.
In the 12-month comparison, however, passenger tire prices increased only 0.7 percent, while those of truck and bus radials actually slipped 0.3 percent. Prices of non-radial truck/bus tires were unchanged for the month and down 1 percent for the 12 months.
Prices for tire repair materials and sundries slid 1.9 percent from March to April, dropping them to within 0.2 percent of year-earlier levels.