US PPI Rises in November But Low Inflation Still a Concern

U.S. producer prices unexpectedly rose in November as the cost of services increased, but the underlying trend continued to point to weak inflation pressures.

The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index advanced 0.3 percent after falling 0.4 percent in October.

In the 12 months through November, the PPI declined 1.1 percent after sliding 1.6 percent in October. November marked the 10th straight 12-month decrease in the index.

Economists had forecast the PPI unchanged last month and sliding 1.4 percent from a year ago.

Dollar strength and continued declines in oil prices amid a glut and slowing global growth have dampened price pressures, leaving inflation running persistently below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.

But given a tightening labor market, economists expect the U.S. central bank to raise its short-term interest rate next Wednesday for the first time in nearly a decade.

Producer inflation is likely to remain weak after a report

on Thursday showed import prices fell in November for the ninth time this year.

via Reuters

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza