WASHINGTON — Final demand PPI rose 0.2% in August and was up 0.1% excluding food and energy prices, compared with expectations for 0.3% gain for overall and 0.2% rise in core, respectively, data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.
The core rate the BLS prefers, excluding changes in volatile profit margins as well as food and energy, was up 0.2% in August.
Energy prices rose 3.3% in August, led by a 9.5% jump in gasoline prices. BLS senior analyst Scott Sager told Market News International during the data "lockup" prior to publication that Hurricane Harvey occurred too late in the month to be captured by the PPI data.
Food prices, however, were down 1.3% on sharp pullback in the prices of wheat, vegetables, fruits, and meats.
Trade services prices themselves were flat in the month, while overall services were up 0.1%. Services prices outside of trade services and warehousing were up 0.1%, restrained by hotels services prices and securities and brokerage margins.
The year/year rates for these measures indicated some acceleration. Overall PPI was up 2.4% year/year in August after a 1.9% year/year rise in July, with energy accounting for much of that gain. At the same time, the year/year rate for PPI excluding food and energy rose to 2.0% from 1.8% in July and the year/year rate for PPI excluding food, energy and trade services held steady at a 1.9% increase.
Overall, the data points to a rebound wholesale inflation that should spill over into consumer prices on a monthly basis, and an acceleration in year/year inflation.
Within the core, there were lower prices for cars and computers that offset higher truck prices. There were also higher prices for medical care services.
