A measure of wholesale prices unexpectedly decreased in May, adding another piece of evidence that inflation is pulling back.
The producer price index, a gauge of prices that producers get for their goods and services in the open market, declined 0.2% for the month, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.
Excluding food, energy and trade services, the PPI was unchanged, compared with expectations for a 0.3% increase.
From the wholesale perspective, the PPI was held back by a 0.8% decrease in final demand goods prices, which was the largest decline since October 2023.
On the services side, fuels and lubricants retailing margins surged 12.2%, but that was offset in part by a 4.3% plunge in airline passenger services prices.
Persons:
Dow Jones
Organizations:
Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, PPI, Stock, BLS, Federal Reserve, Labor Department