US producer prices rise 0.3% as annual inflation reaches 6.5%
October's monthly increase slowed from a revised 1.4% in September, but the annual pace was the fastest since November 2022.
US producer prices rose 0.3% in October, a smaller monthly increase than September's revised 1.4% jump. But prices were 6.5% higher than a year earlier, the fastest annual increase since November 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The monthly figure was below the 0.4% increase expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. That is a slower rise in prices, not a fall in the price level. The monthly changes are seasonally adjusted; the annual comparison is not.
Goods prices increased 0.5%, while services rose 0.2%. Food prices climbed 1.3%, but energy prices edged down 0.1%. Transportation and warehousing accounted for three-fourths of the services increase, including a 3.9% rise in freight-trucking prices.
A measure excluding food, energy and trade services rose 0.5% for the month and 4.9% over the year. It is a different measure from the food-and-energy-only core index, which rose 0.3% in October.
The report measures prices received by domestic producers. It is not the Consumer Price Index and does not show that household inflation is 6.5%. For businesses, the mix of higher goods and freight prices shows why a softer headline monthly reading can still leave cost pressures.
