May PPI Plunges 1.0%; Core Rate Increases 0.2%

WASHINGTON — The producer price index for finished goods dropped 1.0% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the largest decline since July 2009 when it fell 1.2%, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The decline in finished goods prices was led by a 4.3% decrease in the index for finished energy goods, and followed an unrevised 0.2% drop in finished goods prices in April.

Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy, were up 0.2%, after rising 0.2% the previous month.

The decrease in the May PPI was larger than the 0.6% decline projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, but the economists were on target with the 0.2% rise they estimated for core prices.

Year over year, the overall PPI was up 0.7%, lower than the economists’ projection of a 1.2% increase. Core producer prices, year over year, were up 2.7%, close to the 2.8% gain projected.

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