The Labor Department announced on Wednesday the U.S. producer-price
index (PPI) was flat m-o-m in
November, following an upwardly revised 0.4 per cent m-o-m fall (from -0.5 per cent m-o-m) in October.
For the 12 months through November, the PPI rose by 0.9 per cent,
decelerating from a downwardly revised 1.2 per cent gain (from +1.3 per cent)
in the previous month. This marked the weakest annual advance in five months.
Economists had predicted the headline PPI would increase 0.1 per cent
m-o-m and 1.0 per cent over the past 12 months.
According to the report, the indexes for both final demand goods
and final demand services were unchanged m-o-m in November.
Excluding volatile prices for food and energy, the PPI was also unchanged m-o-m but jumped 2.0 per cent over 12 months. Economists had forecast gains of 0.2 per cent m-o-m and 2.2
per cent y-o-y for November. In October, the core PPI showed a flat m-o-m performance and a 2.3 per cent y-o-y climb (revised from +2.4 per cent y-o-y in the initial
estimate).