Economy

PPI Shows a Tick Up in Wholesale Inflation

The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures wholesale inflation, and the April readings are mostly in line with those from March. The headline PPI for final demand was up 0.6% in April, above the 0.2% reading expected by Bloomberg and up marginally from the 0.5% headline reading for March.

The core reading, excluding food and energy, was up by 0.5% in April. This compared to a Bloomberg consensus estimate from economists of 0.2% and was down by one-tenth of one-percent from the 0.6% reading from March.

Where the reading gets less inflationary is when you back out food and energy and the so-called trade services. This was only a gain of 0.3% in April. Economists do not guess that reading yet, but it was flat from the 0.3% reading from March.

Both readings for goods and for services were up by 0.6% in April.

We would caution that, while these still seem low and under the Federal Reserve’s inflation target, that February’s PPI readings were negative. These will not be deemed inflationary by much of a measure.

READ MORE: As Business Inventories Rise, America Is Back in Business

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