U.S. producer prices fell more than expected in December as the costs of energy products and food declined, offering more evidence that inflation was receding.
The producer price index for final demand decreased 0.5% last month, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. Data for November was revised lower to show the PPI rising 0.2% instead of 0.3% as previously reported.
In the 12 months through December, the PPI increased 6.2% after climbing 7.3% in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI dipping 0.1% on the month and gaining 6.8% year-on-year.
[It’s good news if it doesn’t stop declining while the overall economy stays out of a recession. Right now, though, it looks more like demand is rapidly falling too, as we saw in today’s retail sales report for December. This may be too little too late in one sense, while at the same time too much too fast in another. — Ed]
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