Producer prices in the US came in flat for July, with the year-over-year rate dropping to 4.7% from a revised 5.5% in June. Wall Street had penciled in something closer to 5%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics published the data on August 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET. The month-over-month change in final demand prices was exactly 0.0%, following a revised -0.1% decline in June.
What drove the cooldown
Goods prices fell 0.7% on the month, dragged lower by a 3.1% decline in energy costs. Gasoline alone dropped 5.7%.
Services ticked up 0.2%. Portfolio management fees led the way with a 6.5% monthly increase, a reminder that when stock portfolios grow, the people managing them charge more. That’s a mechanical feature of how the PPI captures financial services.
