The Labor
Department reported on Wednesday that the U.S. producer-price index (PPI) was unchanged m-o-m in June,
following an upwardly revised 0.3 per cent m-o-m uptick (from +0.1
per cent m-o-m) in May.
For the 12
months through June, the PPI rose by 2.3 per cent, slowing from an upwardly revised 2.7 per
cent climb (from +2.6 per cent) in the previous month. This marked the weakest annual increase in PPI since September 2024 (+2.1 per cent).
Economists had predicted
the headline PPI would gain 0.2 per cent m-o-m and 2.5 per cent over the past
12 months.
According to
the report, the June flat performance of the headline index reflected a 0.3-per-cent m-o-m advance in the index for final demand goods that was offset by a 0.1-per-cent m-o-m slip in the index for final
demand services.
Excluding
volatile prices for food and energy, the PPI also remained unchanged m-o-m and soared 2.6 per cent over 12 months, recording its weakest annual rise since July 2024 (+2.6 per cent
y-o-y). Economists had forecast advances of 0.2 per cent m-o-m and 2.7 per cent
y-o-y for June. In May, the core PPI recorded a 0.4 per cent m-o-m rise (revised from +0.1 per cent m-o-m
in the initial estimate) and a 3.2 per cent y-o-y surge (revised from +3.0 per
cent y-o-y in the initial estimate).