The Producer Price Index (PPI) reported by the Labor Department Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Labor Department’s Producer Price Index (PPI) unexpectedly fell in March by 0.1% after slipping 0.2% in February, missing economists’ expectations. In the 12 months through March, the PPI fell 0.1% after remaining flat in the prior 12 months leading up to February.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI increasing 0.2% last month and 0.3% on a year-over-year basis. The slip was fueled by rising energy prices being offset by a decreasing cost of services, which supports the Federal Reserve’s cautious plan to increasing interest rates.
The so-called core PPI–excluding food, energy and trade services–was up 0.9% in the 12 months through March after rising by the same percentage in February year-over-year. On a monthly basis, the core PPI increased by just 0.1% in February.
| Month | Total final demand |
Final demand less foods, energy, and trade |
Final demand goods | Final demand services | Change in final demand from 12 months ago (unadj.) |
Change in final demand less foods, energy, and trade from 12 mo. ago (unadj.) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Foods | Energy | Less foods and energy |
Total | Trade | Transportation and warehousing |
Other | |||||
|
2015 |
||||||||||||
|
Mar. |
0.0 | 0.0 | -0.1 | -0.9 | 0.6 | -0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.9 | 0.7 |
|
Apr. |
0.0 | 0.2 | -0.5 | -0.9 | -2.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | -0.3 | 0.4 | -1.1 | 0.8 |
|
May |
0.5 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.8 | 0.7 |
|
June |
0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -0.5 | 0.8 |
|
July |
0.1 | 0.1 | -0.3 | -0.8 | -0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.7 | 0.9 |
|
Aug. |
-0.2 | 0.0 | -0.5 | 0.2 | -2.6 | -0.2 | -0.1 | -0.4 | -0.9 | 0.2 | -1.0 | 0.6 |
|
Sept. |
-0.5 | -0.1 | -1.0 | -0.3 | -5.3 | 0.0 | -0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | -0.2 | -1.1 | 0.5 |
|
Oct. |
-0.2 | -0.2 | -0.3 | -0.7 | -0.2 | -0.3 | -0.2 | -0.2 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -1.4 | 0.4 |
|
Nov.(1) |
0.1 | 0.1 | -0.1 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -1.3 | 0.2 |
|
Dec.(1) |
0.0 | 0.2 | -0.6 | -0.9 | -3.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | -0.6 | 0.4 | -1.0 | 0.3 |
|
2016 |
||||||||||||
|
Jan. |
0.1 | 0.2 | -0.7 | 1.0 | -5.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | -0.2 | 0.8 |
|
Feb. |
-0.2 | 0.1 | -0.6 | -0.3 | -3.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.4 | -0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
|
Mar. |
-0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.9 | 1.8 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.1 | -0.1 | 0.9 |
|
Footnotes |
||||||||||||
