BEIJING — Home Depot, the U.S.-based home improvement retailer, says it will close its remaining seven big box outlets in China and focus on Internet-based sales and specialty stores.

The company said today the closures will result in a loss of 850 jobs.

Home Depot said it will retain two specialty stores in Tianjin, a city east of Beijing, and is developing relations with Chinese e-commerce websites.

The company said it will keep 170 staff in its specialty stores, a sourcing office and a team to work on new retail formats.

WASHINGTON — A sharp rise in gasoline costs drove up wholesale prices last month by the most in more than three years. But outside energy and food, price gains were mild.The producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, jumped 1.7 percent in August, the Labor Department said Thursday. The increase was mostly because gas prices soared 13.6 percent, the most in three years.In the past 12 months, wholesale prices have increased 2 percent, a mild gain and far below the recent peak of 7.1 percent in July 2011. Core wholesale prices have risen 2.5 percent in the past year.