–YOY Rates are +5.7% Overall PPI and +2.9% Core PPI
By Brai Odion-Esene
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Wholesale prices in the United States rose at a
slightly higher rate than expected last month, with the increase in the
Producer Price Index broad based, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported Thursday.
The November PPI rose by 0.3%, but the core index (excluding food
and energy) rose by an expected 0.1%. This put the overall index up 5.7%
and core up 2.9% over the year.
Following September’s 0.8% PPI rise, and then a 0.3% decline in
October, economists in a Market News International survey had expected
the index to rise 0.2% in November.
The index for finished consumer foods rose by 1.0% last month, the
sixth consecutive monthly increase. The BLS said over half the increase
can be attributed to the 11.5% jump in prices of fresh and dry
vegetables. Higher prices for young chickens (+8.0%) and meats (+1.4%)
also contributed.
Leading the rise in the core was the index for pharmaceutical
operations, which rose by 0.9%. A 0.6% jump in the prices for passenger
cars also contributed to the core index’s increase.
The finished energy goods index rose by 0.1% in November, with home
heating oil prices (+9.4%) and diesel fuel (+7.5%) leading the pack.
Rounding out the report, Intermediate PPI rose by 0.2% and the
prices for Crude Goods +3.8% — led by intermediate energy goods (+1.9%)
and crude energy materials (+10.5%), respectively.
**Market News International Washington Bureau: (202)371-2121**
[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MT$$$$,MAUDR$]
