Gas prices displayed at a gas station in Brooklyn, New York on September 4, 2026.
Spencer Pratt | Getty Images
U.S. wholesale prices rose in August and could play a key role in the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate decisions, according to a report Thursday.
The producer price index, which measures the final demand cost of goods and services, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, in line with the Dow Jones Consensus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.
On an annual basis, PPI was 5.4%, still well above the Fed’s 2% inflation target and 0.1 percentage point higher than expected. July’s PPI rose by 0.1%, a slight upward revision from the initial forecast of no change.
Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2%, contrary to expectations for a 0.3% rise. Non-core trade services, another volatile category, rose 0.3%.
After the release of this report, stock market futures turned negative, but the release of this report coincided with the price of US crude oil exceeding $100 per barrel. Government bond yields rose significantly.
Energy prices in particular and overall commodity prices drove most of the increase. Final demand energy prices increased by 4.2%, mainly driven by the rise in diesel prices (up 24.1%). Commodity prices generally rose by 1.1%.
Services prices rose by just 0.1%, with a 2.3% rise in transport and warehousing accounting for most of the increase.
Portfolio management costs, a closely watched metric in PPI calculations, fell 1.6% in the month, but were still up 18.8% year-on-year.
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