Wholesale Prices Little Changed in August
Wholesale prices in the U.S. were little changed in August from the prior month, restrained by a plunge in gasoline prices and a sign of limited inflation in the production pipeline.
The producer-price index was unchanged, matching the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists, after a 0.1% rise the prior month, the Labor Department reported.
Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices rose 1.8%. The PPI excluding food and energy rose 0.1% from a month earlier.
Falling energy costs and subdued global markets are helping to limit inflation. Muted price pressures have allowed Federal Reserve officials room to keep interest rates low even as they’re on pace to end their unprecedented monthly asset purchase program in October.
“Inflation measures both this month and in the prior month have been influenced by tumbling energy prices,” said Laura Rosner, U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York. “This will probably at least ease some worries about projections of a buildup in inflation as we move lower on the unemployment rate.”
The median estimate was based on a survey of 72 economists. Projections ranged from a drop of 0.3% to a 0.2% advance. Wholesale prices excluding food and energy were forecast to rise 0.1% after a 0.2% gain in July.
Compared with 12 months earlier, companies paid 1.8% more for goods and services, up from a 1.7% year-over-year rise in July. The core index also increased 1.8% in the year ended August after a 1.6% gain.
The wholesale prices report was expanded this year to include 75% of all U.S. goods and services, up from about a third for the old metric, which tallied the costs of goods alone. The index now includes prices received for services, government purchases, trade and construction.
