Wholesale costs increased almost 0.4%, over anticipated, as inflation continues

October 14, 2022: -Wholesale prices increased over expected in September despite Federal Reserve efforts to control inflation, according to a report on Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The producer price index, a measure of costs that U.S. businesses get for the goods and services they produce, increased by 0.4% for the month, compared with the Dow Jones assessment of a 0.2% gain. On a 12-month basis, PPI increased 8.5%, decelerating from 8.7% in August.

Excluding food, energy, and business services, the index increased 0.4% for the month and 5.6% from a year ago, the latter matching the August increase.

Food prices helped increase goods inflation, with a 1.2% monthly increase. Energy grew 0.7% after publishing tremendous gains in the previous two months.

Inflation has been the economy’s most significant issue over the past year, as the cost of living has been running near its highest level in more than 40 years.

The Fed has responded by increasing rates five times this year by three percentage points. It is widely anticipated to implement a fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point boost when it meets again in three weeks.

“Inflationary momentum has built up in the U.S. economy and will persist near-term, keeping the Fed hiking aggressively,” said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank.

A worker is installing the instrument cluster for the Ford Motor Co. battery-powered F-150 Lightning trucks in production at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, on September 20, 2022. – Construction crews returned at Dearborn, which remarks Ford’s century-old industrial complex again, this time for a post-petroleum era that is finally starting to feel possible.

Following the PPI release, traders priced in an 81.3% chance of a three-quarter point hike, the same as a day ago. However, Wednesday’s data shows the Fed still has work to do. Indeed, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester on Tuesday said, “there has been no progress on inflation.”

Stock market futures trimmed gains following the news, while Treasury yields were little changed in the session.

The PPI release comes ahead of the more closely watched consumer price index. The two differ in that PPI measures the prices received at the wholesale level while CPI gauges the prices that consumers pay.