[ad_1]
Wholesale prices rose sharply in September, according to a Wednesday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The producer price index, a measure of prices for U.S. goods and services, increased by 0.4%, exceeding the 0.2% estimated by Dow Jones.
Compared to last year, PPI increased 8.5%, a modest shrink from 8.7% in August.
About two-thirds of the increase in PPI was attributed to a 0.4% jump in services, the BLS said. A major factor in that increase was a 6.4% boost in traveler accommodation services prices.
The soaring prices came despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to mitigate inflation by hiking interest rates in recent months. Inflation has battered the U.S. and global economy this year, with the cost of living nearing a 40-year high.
The Fed has raised rates five times this year for a total of 3 percentage points and could implement a further 0.75 percentage point increase when it reconvenes in early November. With the global economy stalling, the Fed faces a challenging task.
“There has been no progress on inflation,” Loretta Mester, Cleveland’s Fed President said Tuesday.
The PPI numbers came a day after the release of consumer price index data. While PPI measures wholesale prices, CPI relates to the prices that consumers pay.
[ad_2]
Source link
