Economics
US Producer Prices Fall for a Second Month as Fuel Costs Retreat
- Costs excluding food and energy increased 0.4% in August
- Goods prices decline, services costs rose most in three months
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A measure of US producer prices fell for a second month in August as fuel costs continued to retreat, though an underlying measure of wholesale costs firmed in a sign of persistent inflation in the production pipeline.
The producer price index for final demand decreased 0.1% from a month earlier and increased 8.7% from a year ago, Labor Department data showed Wednesday. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the so-called core PPI climbed a larger-than-forecast 0.4% in August and was up 7.3% from a year earlier.