Pipeline inflation in the US food and energy sectors moved higher in August, but was tame elsewhere, the Labour Department said today. The producer price index, also known as the wholesale price index, rose 0.4pc in August. Energy prices jumped 1.2pc, the third straight increase. Food prices rose 0.7pc. Excluding food and energy goods, core producer prices rose a modest 0.1pc. Inflation at the wholesale level was a bit stronger than anticipated by Wall Street economists, whose consensus forecast called for a 0.3pc rise.
Producer prices for finished goods have risen 3.4pc in the past year. Energy prices increased 14.2pc in the past year, food prices rose 5pc and prices of everything else increased just 0.4pc. Further back in the production pipeline, prices of intermediate goods destined for further processing before final sale rose 0.5pc in August and are now up 4.4pc in the past year. Prices of core intermediate goods prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.1pc in August. Prices of crude goods fell 1.4pc as energy prices dropped 7.4pc, including a 13.1pc drop in natural gas prices. //www.fxcentre.com