Compared with a year earlier, the overall PPI advanced 3%, the BLS said Wednesday. Excluding food and energy, the PPI was unchanged from the prior month and climbed 3% from November 2024.
The wholesale price data follow a report out Tuesday that showed underlying consumer inflation rose in December by less than projected in a sign of cooling price growth. The latest PPI figures indicate companies are limiting the degree to which they’re passing along higher import duties and other costs for fear of suppressing sales.
In separate government data, retail sales rose more than expected in November, suggesting consumers remained resilient going into the holiday season.
Economists and investors closely track the PPI because several of its components feed into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index.
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Among those categories, portfolio management fees advanced 1.4% while costs of airline passenger services fell 2.6%. The costs of physician care and hospital inpatient care rose slightly, while hospital outpatient care saw a bigger increase.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis will issue November PCE price data, along with income and spending figures, on Jan 22. The following week, Fed officials gather for their first policy meeting of 2026. US central bankers are expected to hold interest rates steady after three straight cuts as they await further progress on inflation and assess developments in the job market.
The PPI report showed wholesale goods prices rose 0.9%, the most since February 2024, with 80% of the increase due to energy. Consumer goods prices minus food and energy advanced 0.3%.
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Services costs were flat after a 0.3% increase in October. A proxy for margins fell 0.8% in October and November. A less-volatile PPI measure that excludes food, energy and trade services rose 0.2%.
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