Producer Prices Drop 0.9% in August

Prices paid to U.S. producers fell 0.9% in August, the Labor Department said Friday.

The core producer price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2%.

The PPI decline was almost twice the 0.5% drop economists had forecast, while core prices matched expectations, Bloomberg reported.

Prices were up 9.6% from a year earlier, while core prices rose 3.6% in the past year, Bloomberg said.

An increase in the PPI could indicate strong demand for goods, which would mean more shipments for trucking companies. However, if inflation begins to accelerate too quickly, it could also hurt the economy.