(Bloomberg) — US producer prices picked up in October, fueled in part by gains in portfolio management and other categories that feed into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
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The producer price index for final demand increased 0.2% from a month earlier after rising a revised 0.1% in September, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Thursday. Compared with a year ago, the PPI rose 2.4%.
A measure of producer prices excluding volatile food and energy categories climbed 0.3% and 3.1% from a year ago.
The wholesale inflation data follow the more closely watched consumer price index, which showed on Wednesday that underlying inflation remained stubborn for a third month. While price pressures have largely abated this year, a lack of headway more recently suggests Fed policymakers will slow the tempo of interest-rate cuts.
Economists parse the PPI data for categories that feed into the Fed’s preferred inflation measure — the personal consumption expenditures price index. Portfolio management fees, which track the stock market, climbed 3.6%, the most in six months.
Airfares were also higher, increasing by the most since the end of 2022. Health-care categories were mostly stronger, the report showed.
The PPI report showed services costs increased 0.3%, after a 0.2% gain in the prior month.
Prices of goods, excluding food and energy, were also 0.3% higher in a slight pickup from the prior month.
Tempering the overall gain in PPI were declines in wholesale food and energy prices.
–With assistance from Molly Smith.
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