Core wholesale prices rose less than expected in September, indicating a potential cooling in pipeline inflation pressures, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.
The producer price index, a measure of what producers get for final demand goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% on the month, in line with the Dow Jones consensus estimate.
However, excluding food and energy, the index rose just 0.1%, below the 0.2% estimate. Both core and headline PPI had decreased 0.1% in August. Headline PPI was up 2.9% from a year ago, while core rose 2.6%.
In an era of tariff-driven cost pressures for imports, goods prices drove the PPI increase, rising 0.9% on the month, while services prices were flat. The jump in goods prices was the biggest since February 2024, according to BLS data.
Final-demand energy prices jumped 3.5% for the month, while food rose 1.1%. Of the energy increase, much of that was tied to an 11.8% surge in gasoline.
