U.S. producer prices unexpectedly flat in July
Article continues below
The Labor Department said its producer price index was unchanged in July after rising by 0.3% in June. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.2%.
The unchanged reading on producer prices came as a 0.1% uptick by the index for final demand goods was offset by a 0.1% dip in prices for final demand services.
Excluding food and energy prices, the core producer price index inched up by 0.1% in July after climbing by 0.3% in the previous month. Core prices had been expected to rise by 0.2%.
Compared to the same month a year ago, producer prices in July were up by 3.3%, reflecting a modest slowdown from the 3.4% increase in June.
The annual rate of growth in core producer prices also slowed to 2.7% in July from 2.8% in the previous month. ■