WASHINGTON - Producer prices increased 0.4% in October as core prices unexpectedly declined 0.6% on lower prices for new autos, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
Core prices, excluding food and energy, dropped following 11 months of increases. The October decline came from lower auto prices. Every October, the Labor Department incorporates new model-year autos to the producer price index.
Economists expected producer prices would rise 0.8% and core prices would increase 0.1%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Energy prices rose 3.7% in October, the largest gain since January, as gasoline prices rose 9.8%.
For the year ending in October, producer prices increased 4.3% and core prices rose 1.5%.
In September, PPI rose 0.4% while the core increased 0.1%.
