US producer price index increases 0.3%, led by higher energy
Excluding food and energy, the PPI edged up 0.1%
[NEW YORK] US wholesale inflation picked up in September from a month earlier, reflecting higher energy and food costs.
The producer price index rose 0.3 per cent from a month earlier after a 0.1 per cent decline in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The increase matched the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Excluding food and energy, the PPI edged up 0.1 per cent.
The PPI rose 2.7 per cent from the same month last year, while the price gauge excluding food and energy was up 2.6 per cent.
The report out Tuesday, originally scheduled for Oct 16 release, was delayed by the government shutdown. BLS did not announce a date for the October PPI in Tuesday’s release.
Wholesale goods prices rose 0.9 per cent, with 60 per cent of the increase due to higher gasoline costs. Services costs were unchanged after declining a month earlier, the PPI report showed.
Within services, margins for machinery and equipment wholesaling fell, and they rose at food wholesalers. Costs for airline passenger services also rose.
The wholesale price data surface a month after the September consumer price index, which showed softer-than-expected inflation. The PPI suggests companies, worried that steeper costs risk driving customers away, were limiting the degree of price hikes to compensate for higher import duties. BLOOMBERG
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