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 December have been published by the Bureau and they indicate producer prices fell by 0.2% during the month after seasonal adjustments. The result was under market expectations and it was lower than November’s 0.1% increase. On a 12-month basis, the rate of producer price inflation after seasonal adjustments fell back to 2.4% after recording 2.6% in November and 2.9% in October.
