Dec. PPI Rises 0.3%; Core Up 0.2%

WASHINGTON – The producer price index of final demand rose 0.3%, driven mostly by the 7.8% increase for gasoline.

Without counting energy, December would have been up 0.2%. Goods prices rose 0.7% and services prices were held back by compressed profit margins.

Bureau of Labor Statistics senior analyst Scott Sager told Market News International that as is typical when gasoline prices are rising, service station margins decline and in December they were down 13.4% as dealers absorbed some of the increase.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
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