safecrackerslot| U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in April, but some key components were encouraging
2024-05-15 / Gaming / view：9 /
Us producer prices (PPI) rose more than expected in AprilSafecrackerslotHowever, the key component of calculating the Fed's preferred inflation indicator is relatively low.
Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday showed that the producer price index of final demand rose 0. 0 month-on-month in April, mainly driven by service prices.Safecrackerslot.5%, the March data was revised down to 0.1%. Compared with a year ago, PPI in April recorded the biggest year-on-year increase since April 2023.
"what we are most concerned about right now is what the PPI's preferred PCE deflator for the Fed, a measure of core consumer price inflation, means," Paul Ashworth, chief North American economist at Capital Macro, said in a report. "in this regard, April news was mixed, but overall encouraging."
Several categories in the PPI report that calculate the Fed's preferred price index of personal consumption expenditure fell.
Among them, hospital outpatient expenses decreased by 0.1%, and air ticket prices decreased by 3.8%. At the same time, the price of portfolio management services rose 3.9%. The personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index for April will be released later this month.
Tuesday's PPI data are particularly closely watched because the much-anticipated April CPI data will be released on Wednesday.
Fed officials have kept benchmark interest rates at their highest level in more than two decades since July, and weaker-than-expected inflation data so far this year have delayed the expected rate cut until the second half of 2024.
Service cost
The PPI report showed that overall service costs rose 0.6 per cent, the biggest increase since July, contributing nearly 3/4 of PPI gains. Commodity prices rose 0.4 per cent, mainly boosted by higher fuel costs.
Retail gasoline prices rose in April to their highest level since October, but have fallen slightly so far this month, and the recent drop in crude oil prices indicates that gasoline prices will fall further in the future.
PPI, which excludes food, energy and trade services, rose 0.4 per cent in April from a month earlier, up from 0.2 per cent in March.
Economists generally expect April CPI data released on Wednesday to show that CPI, excluding food and energy, will return to more moderate levels after three higher-than-expected levels at the beginning of 2024.