Wholesale prices jump 1.3% in September, most since March 2022
Wholesale prices rose 1.3% in September, the biggest monthly jump since March 2022, the Labor Department said. Prices were up 6.3% from a year earlier, led by a surge in gas prices, the AP and Reuters reported. The government also revised August's gain up to 0.5% from the 0.4% it first reported, Reuters said.
Prices that businesses charge each other rose at the fastest pace in more than four years in September, the Labor Department said Thursday, as fuel costs soared.
The producer price index for final demand rose 1.3% from August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. That was the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. Prices were up 6.3% from a year earlier, the most since December 2022 and up from 5.6% in August, The Associated Press reported.
Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected a 0.6% rise for the month, CNBC reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 0.5%.
The figure for August was revised. Reuters reported an "upwardly revised 0.5% rise in August," after a previously reported 0.4% gain. BLS said data for May through August were revised to reflect late reports and corrections.
Goods prices rose 2.6%, the biggest jump since the series began in December 2009, BLS said. Energy prices jumped 10.8% and made up more than 80% of that rise. Gasoline prices rose 20.3%. Wholesale food prices rose 1.2%. Services prices rose 0.8%.
Transportation and warehousing prices climbed 3.4% last month and are 16% higher than a year ago, the AP reported. "This is how increases in energy prices 'bleed through' to prices of core goods," Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a client note, the AP reported.
Excluding food and energy, core prices rose 0.7% from August and 5% from a year ago, the AP and CNBC reported. A narrower BLS measure that also leaves out trade services rose 0.5% for the month and 5.0% from a year earlier.
The report came a day after consumer prices rose 3.7% from a year earlier, CNBC reported. As of Thursday morning, traders saw a nearly 34% chance that the Federal Reserve raises rates on Oct. 28, up from under 18% a week earlier, CNBC reported, citing CME's FedWatch tool. Some economists now expect a hike, the AP reported.
What we know: Wholesale prices rose 1.3% in September, driven mostly by energy.
What we don't: Whether the Fed will raise rates at its late-October meeting.
Where outlets agree The AP and Reuters both report that wholesale prices rose 1.3% in September and 6.3% from a year earlier, the biggest monthly gain since March 2022.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.