The recent decline in gasoline prices likely helped drag down the consumer price index, which may notch its first monthly decline since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. The producer price index, though, could show upstream inflation pressures continuing to build as the Iran war’s energy shock kept working its way through the economy. Economists see the 12-month change in the core gauge, which excludes food and energy, accelerating to 5.2% from 4.9%.