WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices picked up slightly in November amid a surge in the cost of gasoline, but businesses appeared to be absorbing ​some of the tariffs on imports, with trade margins compressing.

The Producer Price Index ‌for final demand rose 0.2% in November after edging up 0.1% in October, the Labor Department's Bureau of ‌Labor Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI rising 0.2%.

In the 12 months through November, the PPI advanced 3.0% after increasing 2.8% in October. The reports were delayed by the 43-day shutdown of the government. Though the longest shutdown on record prevented ⁠the collection of data to ‌produce the Consumer Price Index for October, the government collected information for the PPI for that month, but with a delay.

The shutdown has made ‍the CPI data a bit noisy. The government reported on Tuesday that the CPI increased 0.3% in December, lifted by food and rents. Consumer prices rose 2.7% year-on-year in December.