Rising fuel costs push up US producer prices in May
The producer price index for final demand rose 0.5% in May after edging up 0.1% in April, boosted by a surge in petrol prices and continued gains in the cost of services
Washington — US producer prices increased more than expected in May, leading to the biggest annual gain in nearly six-and-a-half years, but underlying producer inflation remained moderate. The US labour department said on Wednesday that its producer price index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.5% last month, boosted by a surge in petrol prices and continued gains in the cost of services. The PPI edged up 0.1% in April. In the 12 months up end-May, the PPI increased 3.1%, the largest advance since January 2012. Producer prices rose 2.6% year-on-year in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI gaining 0.3% from the prior month and rising 2.8% from a year ago. A key gauge of underlying producer price pressures that excludes food, energy and trade services nudged up 0.1% last month. The so-called core PPI rose by the same margin in April. In the 12 months through May, the core PPI rose 2.6% after advancing 2.5% in April. The dollar pared losses against a basket of currencie...
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