Wholesale inflation cools more than expected in December
Wells Fargo Advisors SVP Mark Smith and Osaic chief market strategist Phil Blancato analyze December inflation data and discuss how investors should play the bond market on 'Making Money.'
Inflation at the wholesale level moderated more than expected in December, providing evidence that prices pressures within the U.S. economy are continuing to gradually fade.
The Labor Department said Friday that its producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers, fell 0.1% in December from the previous month. On an annual basis, prices remain up 1% – up slightly from the 0.8% recorded in November.
Those figures are both lower than the 0.1% monthly gain and 1.3% annual figure predicted by Refinitiv economists.
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In another sign that suggests high inflation is dissipating, core prices – which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy – were also unchanged for the month, lower than the 0.2% estimate. The figure was up 1.8% on a 12-month basis, down from 2.2% the previous month.
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The data comes a day after the Labor Department reported that the consumer price index, which measures the prices paid directly by consumers, rose 0.3% in December, above expectations.
A customer visits a supermarket in San Mateo, California, the United States, Dec. 12, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The back-to-back inflation reports will have major implications for the Federal Reserve, which has raised interest rates at the fastest pace in decades as it tries to cool the economy. The central bank approved 11 rate hikes in the span of
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