WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices in January took their biggest leap in a decade, even as industrial production fell for a fourth month in a row. Natural gas prices soared at a record pace.

        Analysts said the figures portrayed an economy that was struggling but not in recession. Inflation has eased recently, they said.

        The reports come as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues seek to stave off an economic downturn. The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by a full percent age point in January, the first time the central bank has moved so quickly during Greenspan's 14-year tenure.

        While Friday's economic news could complicate matters a bit for them, economists continue to think that Fed policy-makers will move to cut interest rates again next month.

        “When you add it all together, there is still a bright green light for the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Economy.com.

        Economists rejected the notion that the economy might be coming to face the twin evils of high inflation and sluggish growth. That's because many analysts think that Friday's Producer Price Index report by the Labor Department painted a picture of wholesale inflation that isn't as bad as it seems.

        The PPI, which measures inflation pressures before they reach store shelves, shot up 1.1 percent in January, the largest rise since September 1990. That followed a mild 0.2 percent increase in December.

        “While the raw producer price numbers seem a bit scary, a closer look shows that the spike in prices was isolated mainly to energy, tobacco and autos,” said Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. Excluding those increases, wholesale prices rose by a modest 0.3 percent, he said.

        Although natural-gas prices rose sharply in January, they have since moderated, boding for more tame inflation figures in February, economists said.

        The PPI report said the price of natural gas to heat homes and for other residential uses rose by a record 11.3 percent in January, surpassing the previous high set in December. Costs of natural gas to power electric utilities and used in industrial production also registered record increases of 64.4 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

        Higher cigarette and car prices largely accounted for a 0.7 percent rise in “core” wholesale inflation, which excludes food and energy.

        In another report, the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell by 0.3 percent in January. That reflected a sharp decline in output at gas and electric utilities because of better weather, as well as a big drop in the production of cars and auto parts.

        Operating capacity at factories, utilities and mines, meanwhile, declined to 80.2 percent last month, the lowest since August 1992, as companies cut back due to weaker demand.

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