The wholesale inflation rate slowed in August for the first time in 11 months as oil and commodity costs fell, signaling price pressures are starting to ease on the economy.

Producer prices, the costs firms pay for energy and raw materials, rose 7.2 percent in August from a year earlier from a revised 7.3 percent increase in July, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday. From July, prices fell 0.1 percent, the first drop since last September.

The drop in prices on a monthly basis provides relief for firms whose earnings have been hurt by a surge in oil and commodity costs. Oil has fallen 29 percent since reaching a record in July and wheat fell to a one-year low Wednesday.

"Decreasing oil prices indicate inflation is no longer a major concern for the economy," said Kenichi Kawasaki, chief economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in Tokyo. "That's good news for Japan."

The 7.2 percent gain in prices matched the median estimate of economists after July's rise was the fastest since an 8.1 percent surge in January 1981.

Nippon Oil Corp. and Japan Energy Corp. cut wholesale gasoline prices this month to reflect the recent decline in oil. Prices at the pump fell to ¥176.2 a liter in the week that ended on Sept. 1, 4.8 percent lower than the record marked in August.