PPI Report

The Department of Labor reported on Tuesday that the Producer Price Index for finished goods, which tracks inflation at the wholesale level, rose a modest 0.1% in August. This was the second consecutive month that price pressures eased for finished goods, primarily due to slower growth in prices of energy products. Excluding the food and energy categories, producer prices fell 0.4%, following a 0.3% decline in July. Compared with a year ago, the overall PPI was up 3.7%, which was the slowest growth rate since March. Prices of "core" intermediate goods considered a leading indicator of consumer inflation rose 0.4%, which was also the slowest growth rate since March.