A benchmark measure of inflation slowed in July after surging in the previous month, offering a glimmer of hope that the painful inflation Americans are facing could moderate in the coming months.

The Producer Price Index, which captures prices paid to producers for their goods and services, was 9.8% higher in July, compared with a year earlier. That's a slowdown from a sharp 11.3% year-over-year spike in June, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices fell by 0.5%, down from a revised 1% month-over-month increase in June.

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The report comes one day after the closely watched Consumer Price Index for July showed that the prices Americans pay for everything from food to electricity increased by 8.5% over the past year, a slower pace than the 9.1% increase in June.

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"If you combine this with the Consumer Price Index news, which was certainly much more encouraging than would have been expected, this gives us hope that the worst of the inflation pressures are behind us," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. 

A benchmark measure of inflation slowed in July after surging in the previous month, offering a glimmer of hope that the painful inflation Americans are facing could moderate in the coming months.

The Producer Price Index, which captures prices paid to producers for their goods and services, was 9.8% higher in July, compared with a year earlier. That's a slowdown from a sharp 11.3% year-over-year spike in June, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices fell by 0.5%, down from a revised 1% month-over-month increase in June.

*

The report comes one day after the closely watched Consumer Price Index for July showed that the prices Americans pay for everything from food to electricity increased by 8.5% over the past year, a slower pace than the 9.1% increase in June.

*

"If you combine this with the Consumer Price Index news, which was certainly much more encouraging than would have been expected, this gives us hope that the worst of the inflation pressures are behind us," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.