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Producer prices make unexpected gains in Oct

But benign inflation environment remains, with Fed in no hurry to raise short-term rates

Published Tue, Nov 18, 2014 · 09:50 PM

Washington

US PRODUCER prices unexpectedly rose in October, but the underlying trend continued to point to a benign inflation environment that could persuade the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates very low a bit longer.

The Labor Department said on Tuesday its Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand increased 0.2 per cent, driven by a jump in prices in the services sector. The PPI had declined 0.1 per cent in September.