Wholesale prices rose 0.5% in March, much less than expected despite war impact

The producer price index, a gauge of pipeline costs for final demand goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month, well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 1.1%, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Tuesday.

Excluding food and energy, core PPI was up just 0.1% against the forecast for 0.5%.

On an annual basis, the all-items PPI accelerated 4%, the biggest 12-month gain since February 2023. Core PPI posted a 3.8% annual gain. Excluding food, energy and trade services, PPI increased 0.2% monthly and 3.6% annually.

The increase on the producer end of prices was less than the 0.9% gain in prices consumers actually paid for the month. Core consumer prices also were soft, rising just 0.2%.

As expected, energy was the primary culprit in the index gain.

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