With energy prices showing a substantial increase in the month of February, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that U.S. producer prices rose by slightly more than anticipated during the month.

The Labor Department said its producer price index rose by 0.7 percent in February after edging up by 0.2 percent in January. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.6 percent.

Excluding the jump in energy prices as well as a drop in foods prices, the core producer price index inched up by 0.2 percent in February, matching the increase seen in the previous month and economist estimates.