US producer prices rise 0.2 pct in Sept

Aug decline reversed

WASHINGTON, Oct 10, (RTRS): US producer prices increased 0.2 percent in September, reversing an unexpected decline in August and in line with expectations.

A rise in services prices offset a slight drop in prices for goods, including a 3.5 percent drop in gasoline prices. Final demand prices had fallen 0.1 percent in August. In the 12 months through September, the producer price index rose 2.6 percent, slightly less than expected.

Yields on Treasury bonds rose and inflation adjusted securities were little changed after the report.

Data on producer prices feed into inflation indicators watched by the Federal Reserve, which has been raising rates in hopes of keeping a price index based on personal consumption expenditures near the central bank’s 2 percent target.

The Fed raised rates last month for the third time this year and is expected to do so again in December.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI increasing 0.2 percent in September and advancing 2.8 percent year-on-year.

A key gauge of underlying producer price pressures that excludes food, energy and trade services rose 0.4 percent last month, the largest increase since January. The so-called core PPI had risen 0.1 percent in August.

In the 12 months through September, the core PPI rose 2.9 percent, the same as the month before.

The cost of services rose 0.3 percent last month, reversing two months of declines, and driven by a 1.8 percent jump in transportation and warehousing services. Over one third of the increase in services was attributed to a 5.5 percent increase in the index for airline passenger services.

The index measures changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers. Services had fallen 0.1 percent in August.