NEW YORK — An important psychological barrier gave way on Wall Street Thursday as the Dow Jones industrials fell to their lowest level in more than six years.

The Dow broke through a bottom reached in November, pulled down by a steep drop in key financial shares. It was the lowest close for the Dow since Oct. 9, 2002, when the last bear market bottomed out.

The blue chips' latest slide dashed hopes the doldrums of November would mark the ending point of a long slump in the market, which is now nearly halfway below the peak levels reached in October 2007.

WASHINGTON — Inflation at the wholesale level surged unexpectedly in January, reflecting sharply higher prices for gasoline and other energy products.The Labor Department said Thursday wholesale prices increased by 0.8 percent last month, the biggest gain since last July and well above the 0.2 percent increase economists had expected.The acceleration was led by a 3.7 percent surge in energy prices with gasoline prices jumping by 15 percent, the biggest gain in 14 months.Even outside the volatile food and energy sectors, wholesale prices showed a bigger-than-expected increase, rising by 0.4 percent. Economists had expected a slight 0.1 percent rise in so-called core inflation.Food prices were well-behaved last month, falling for a second straight month. The 0.4 percent decline in January reflected lower costs for beef and dairy products which offset gains in the price of vegetables and chicken products.In addition to the big jump in gasoline costs, prices for home heating oil were up by 5.4 percent and liquified petroleum gas, which is often used to heat homes in rural areas, surged by 20.2 percent.