Reflecting lower prices for food and energy, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected drop in U.S. producer prices in the month of September.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand edged down by 0.1 percent in September after coming in unchanged in August.
The modest drop by the index came as a surprise to economists, who had expected prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.
The unexpected drop in producer prices was partly due to a continued decline in energy prices, which fell by 0.7 percent in September after tumbling by 1.5 percent in August.
Food prices also showed another notable decrease, sliding by 0.7 percent after falling by 0.5 percent in the previous month.
Excluding the drops in food and energy prices, core producer prices came in unchanged in September after inching up by 0.1 percent in August. Core prices had been expected to tick up by another 0.1 percent.
The Labor Department noted that its reading on producer prices in the service sector edged down by 0.1 percent in September after climbing by 0.3 percent in the previous month.
Compared to the same month a year ago, producer prices rose by 1.6 percent in September, reflecting a slowdown compared to the 1.8 percent growth reported for August.
The report said the annual rate of core producer price growth also slowed to 1.6 percent in September from 1.8 percent in August.
Next Wednesday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on consumer price inflation in the month of September.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
U.S. Producer Prices Unexpectedly Edge Down 0.1% In September
No comments:
Post a Comment