U.S. Supplier Inflation Remained Elevated in August
The producer-price index measures what suppliers are charging businesses and other customers.
Photo:
KC McGinnis for The Wall Street Journal
U.S. suppliers cut prices again in August, a sign that inflation pressures might be easing for some items.
The producer-price index, which measures what suppliers are charging businesses and other customers, fell 0.1% in August from July, a smaller decline than the 0.4% decrease in July from June, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
On an annual basis, however, that left the PPI 8.7% higher in August than a year before, down from July’s 9.8% increase but still high.
The so-called core PPI—which excludes the volatile categories of food, energy and supplier margins—rose 0.2% in August from July, up from a 0.1% increase in July from June. Investors and policy makers follow core inflation closely as a reflection of broad, underlying inflation and as a predictor of future inflation.
Core producer prices rose 5.6% in August from the year before after a 5.8% annual increase in July.
The PPI report comes a day after the Labor Department said consumer prices overall rose more slowly in August from a year earlier, but increased sharply from July after excluding volatile food and energy items, showing that inflation pressures broadened and remained strong and persistent.
Producers’ energy prices dropped 6% in August from July, the second straight month of steep declines. Energy prices have declined for weeks after spiking due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The PPI report showed that food prices were unchanged last month from July, contrasting with continued increases in those paid by consumers.
Write to Gabriel T. Rubin at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The producer-price index measures what suppliers are charging businesses and other customers.
Photo:
KC McGinnis for The Wall Street Journal
U.S. suppliers cut prices again in August, a sign that inflation pressures might be easing for some items.
The producer-price index, which measures what suppliers are charging businesses and other customers, fell 0.1% in August from July, a smaller decline than the 0.4% decrease in July from June, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
On an annual basis, however, that left the PPI 8.7% higher in August than a year before, down from July’s 9.8% increase but still high.
The so-called core PPI—which excludes the volatile categories of food, energy and supplier margins—rose 0.2% in August from July, up from a 0.1% increase in July from June. Investors and policy makers follow core inflation closely as a reflection of broad, underlying inflation and as a predictor of future inflation.
Core producer prices rose 5.6% in August from the year before after a 5.8% annual increase in July.
The PPI report comes a day after the Labor Department said consumer prices overall rose more slowly in August from a year earlier, but increased sharply from July after excluding volatile food and energy items, showing that inflation pressures broadened and remained strong and persistent.
Producers’ energy prices dropped 6% in August from July, the second straight month of steep declines. Energy prices have declined for weeks after spiking due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The PPI report showed that food prices were unchanged last month from July, contrasting with continued increases in those paid by consumers.
Write to Gabriel T. Rubin at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.