Wholesale prices in the United States rose slightly in April, the government reported on Thursday, as falling oil and gasoline prices leveled off and food prices rose the most in a year.

The Labor Department reported that prices received by producers of finished goods rose 0.3 percent last month, further discounting the prospect that the economy was veering into a vicious cycle of lower prices and lower wages known as deflation.

But for some economists, the prospect of rising energy and food prices at a time of deep unemployment and shrinking wages raised concerns that strapped consumers could see their cost of living rise even as the job market continued to get worse.

Although falling producer and consumer prices raised fears about deflation last year as the recession deepened and the financial crisis broke, the end of $4-a-gallon gas and lower heating and energy costs effectively put billions of dollars into consumers’ pockets.