Producer Prices Increase Less Than Expected
Prices paid by businesses to goods and services producers in the U.S. rose by slightly less than anticipated in March, according to .
Whats going on: The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% last month, after rising by 0.6% in February, the Labor Departments Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists had expected the PPI to gain 0.3%. In the 12 months through January, the PPI increased 2.1%, below the 2.2% expected, after climbing 1.6% in February.
- Core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% on the month, for an annual increase of 2.4%.
- The data comes just a day after the release of a higher-than-anticipated consumer price index for last month.
The details: Services inflation stayed elevated, with a gain of 0.3% in prices in March, reports.
- Goods prices, however, edged down 0.1%.
- A 1.6% decline in energy prices made up much of Marchs overall decrease and outweighed a 0.8% increase in food prices.
Why its important: The news may mean an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve will come later than previously thought.
