WASHINGTON -- Final demand PPI rose 0.4% in September, as expected, but excluding food and energy prices were up 0.4%, above the 0.2% gain expected due to a 0.8% jump in trade services, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.
Energy prices were up 3.4% in the month, with a 10.9% jump in gasoline prices and a 12.1% rise in jet fuel prices being the key factors. Food prices were flat.
The core rate the BLS prefers, excluding the change in trade services as well as food and energy, was up 0.2% in September.
The year/year rates for these measures indicated some acceleration. Overall PPI was up 2.6% year/year in September after a 2.4% year/year rise in August. At the same time, the year/year rate for PPI excluding food and energy rose to 2.2% from 2.0% in August and the year/year rate for PPI excluding food, energy and trade services rose to 2.1% from 1.9%.
BLS said that the hurricanes did not impact data collection or estimation for PPI. BLS senior analyst Scott Sager told Market News International during the data "lockup" prior to publication that outside of energy prices, there was not clear hurricane impact on the data.
He noted that citrus prices could be impacted in the coming months due to the hurricane impact in Florida.
