Thursday, May 15, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Wholesale prices plunged by a record 1.9 percent in April as the end of the Iraq war removed pressures on energy costs, which posted their largest drop in nearly 17 years. Operating capacity at factories nosedived to the lowest ebb since 1983.
The big drop in the Producer Price Index, which measures the prices of goods before they reach store shelves, marked an about-face from March when higher energy prices, stoked by the war, helped to catapult wholesales prices up by a hefty 1.5 percent, the Labor Department reported.
In other news today, the Federal Reserve reported that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities fell by 0.5 percent in April for the second month in a row.
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