The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, a key measure of wholesale inflation, rose 1.3% in September. According to the report, producer prices increased 6.3% on an annual basis.
The monthly increase was the largest recorded since March 2022, while the 12-month figure marked the most significant rise since December 2022. Both figures were higher than the projections from economists surveyed by Dow Jones, who had forecast a 0.6% monthly increase and a 5.5% year-over-year rise.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicated that energy costs were a contributor to the overall increase in the index. A separate measure of producer prices that excludes the more volatile categories of food, energy, and trade services showed an increase of 0.5% for the month of September and 5% over the past year.
This report followed the release of other key economic indicators earlier in the week. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which showed a 0.6% increase in consumer prices from August to September and a 3.7% increase on a 12-month basis. Economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated a 0.6% monthly and 3.6% annual increase.
The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3% for the month and 2.6% from the previous year. The forecasts for core CPI were for a 0.2% monthly and 2.5% annual increase.
Separately, new data showed that retail sales grew 0.8% in September. This rate was higher than the 0.4% increase that economists had anticipated but represented a slower pace of growth compared to the previous month, when sales rose by more than 1%.
Also on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, a summary of economic activity. An analysis of the document by Bespoke Investment Group found that it contained the highest number of mentions of terms related to inflation on record.
