Producer prices drop 2.2% in November
Producer prices fell sharply in November as energy prices plunged for the fourth consecutive month, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures prices at the factory door and inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, fell steeper than expected to 2.2%. Economists had pegged a predictive 2.0% rise. The index registered its biggest monthly decline ever in October, falling a record 2.8%.
Plummeting energy prices again led the way in dragging prices down. The energy index fell 11.2% after a 12.8% drop in the previous month which set a 22-year record. Crude goods declined 12.5% following a 18.6% drop in October.
The consecutive declines further highlights free-falling crude-oil prices, which closed Thursday in New York at $47.98 a barrel — a far distance from its record highs near $147 per barrel in July when inflation peaked.
Producer prices set record drop of 2.8% in October
Producer prices plunged in October for the third straight month and by a level never before on record, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures prices at the factory door and inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, plummeted 2.8%. Forecasters were expecting a 1.9% reduction, which would have itself broke the last record one-month drop of 1.6% in October 2001, or right after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Similar to September’s 0.4 % fall, diving energy prices were the key to October’s PPI decline. Energy prices plunged 12.8% in the month after falling 2.9% in September. That marks the biggest one-month drop since July 1986.
Producer prices fall for second straight month
Producer prices fell in September with lower energy prices, and dropped for the second consecutive month, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures prices at the factory door and inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, decreased in September to 0.4%. The drop was in line with analysts’ expectations. September’s decline follows a 0.9% drop in August and a 1.2% increase in July — a month that marked a 27-year high.
Falling energy prices was the key to easing price pressures as highlighted by the stark contrast of Tuesday’s Nymex crude-oil price of $78.63 per barrel compared to a record high near $147 per barrel in July. Energy prices fell 2.9 percent in September after tumbling 4.6 percent in August — a month that marked the biggest drop in nearly two years.
Fed chief Bernanke forecasts moderate inflation
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said inflation was on track to ease later this year and next. Bernanke made the comments Friday at an economic conference before leading economists and policymakers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Decreasing commodity prices, increased stability of the dollar, and slower growth were cited reasons for the improved outlook.
"If not reversed, these developments, together with a pace of growth that is likely to fall short of potential for a time, should lead inflation to moderate later this year and next year," Bernanke said.
Growing inflation: Wholesale prices jump to highest annual rate in 27 years
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures prices at the factory door and inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, jumped 1.2% in July and 9.8% in the past year, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday.
The 1.2% climb was double the rate economists expected and follows a 1.8% jump in June and a 1.4% rise in May. Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy, jumped 0.7 percent in July after a 0.2 percent June increase.
The rise in wholesale prices marks the highest annual rate since June 1981, or 27 years.