By Matt Grossman
Producers' selling prices stayed flat in September, more evidence of cooling U.S. inflation.
The producer-price index was unchanged last month compared with in August, versus the 0.1% that economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected. Over the past 12 months, producer prices have risen by 1.8%.
In September, a 0.2% increase in producers' services prices offset a 0.2% decline in goods prices.
The figures are a gauge of how much more companies are charging for their output. But one of the PPI's most important roles is as a data source for the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of overall inflation, the personal-consumption expenditures price index.
The next update on PCE inflation is due on Oct. 31--a week before the Fed's next rate-setting meeting in early November.
A big share of the data that go into PCE inflation flow from the consumer-price index, which came in higher than expected on Thursday, at 0.2% month-over-month in September. But the PPI's inflation figures for healthcare services, airfare and financial services, to name a few key categories, are important factors as well.
Friday's producer-price figures will help analysts nail down their guesses about September's PCE reading, which is bound to be influential as the Fed decides whether to continue cutting rates, and how quickly.
Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-11-24 0900ET