WASHINGTON: US producer prices were unchanged in August from July, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, adding fresh evidence of tame inflation in the modestly growing economy.
The department's flat producer price index reflected declines in food and energy prices, down 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Excluding food and energy prices, which can be volatile month-over-month, core PPI also was flat.
The flat overall PPI number was expected, but analysts on average estimated core PPI would increase 0.1 percent.
Producer prices, measuring price changes before they reach consumers, have risen slowly in the first eight months of the year. In July, the increase was only 0.1 percent.
Year-over-year, August producer prices were up 1.8 percent.
The latest piece of tame inflation data came ahead of the start of a two-day Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. The central bank is expected to issue a post-meeting statement Wednesday that maintains policy suggesting the first raise in near-zero interest rates will not come before mid 2015.
Inflation has been running below the Fed's longer-term 2.0 percent target.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the central bank's preferred inflation measure, rose at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in July, while the core PCE index, stripping out food and energy, increased 1.5 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.