WASHINGTON — US wholesale prices were unchanged in March as a recent surge in energy prices was mostly reversed, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Excluding the volatile categories of food and energy, core wholesale prices rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.3 percent.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected a 0.1 percent decrease in the overall producer price index (PPI) and a 0.2 percent rise in core PPI.

Energy prices fell one percent last month, led by a sharp reduction in gas prices. Wholesale gasoline prices fell two percent last month, compared to a 4.3 percent rise in February.

The wholesale cost of food, however, rose 0.2 percent to mark the first increase in five months.

Over the past year, wholesale prices have risen an unadjusted 2.8 percent, the smallest year-over-year increase since June 2010.

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