The producer price index (PPI) is a measure of prices charged by producers for domestically produced goods, services, and construction. In the US, it is constructed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in a fashion similar to the consumer price index (CPI) except it measures prices received from the producer’s perspective. It is another one of the various measures of inflation tracked by the US Fed, along with core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data.
The latest figures for April have been published by the Bureau and they indicate producer prices increased by 0.2% during the month after seasonal adjustments. The result was in line with the expected figure but considerably less than March’s +0.6%. On a 12-month basis, the rate of producer price inflation after seasonal adjustments accelerated to 2.3% after recording 2.2% in March and 1.8% in February. “Core” PPI inflation fell back from March’s 0.3% to 0.1% in April but the rate of annual increase remained at 2.4%.