The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures inflation on the wholesale level, rose 0.2% in October, with the annual reading jumping from an upwardly revised 1.9% to 2.4%. This was hotter than the 2.3% that the market was anticipating. Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% for the month and the year-over-year reading moved higher to 3.1%.
What’s the bottom line?
While the stalling progress on inflation has caused some fears that inflation is reemerging, we need to look at the numbers in context. October’s 2.4% year-over-year PPI reading is well below the peak of 11.7% seen in 2022. Still, PPI data is important because some of the components are factored into another inflation measure called Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE). We will need to see if the hotter than expected PPI reading causes an upside surprise to PCE when it is reported later this month.