Producer prices rise for second straight month in June

Washington

US producer prices rose more than expected in June as the cost of petrol and a range of other goods rose, indicating the recent oil-driven downward spiral in prices was abating. But factory production failed to measure up in the same month.

The Labor Department said on Wednesday its producer price index (PPI) for final demand increased 0.4 per cent last month after increasing 0.5 per cent in May. It was the second straight month of increase in producer prices.

A 0.7 per cent increase in goods prices accounted for nearly two-thirds of the incr…