Wholesale prices south of the border increased at their quickest pace on record in November, the latest evidence that the inflation pressures weighing on the stateside economy are still being felt,
Figures released Tuesday by the Labor Department showed the producer price index (PPI) for final demand increased 9.6% over the previous 12 months after rising another 0.8% in November. Economists had reportedly been looking for an annual gain of 9.2%.
Excluding food, energy and trade services prices rose 0.7% for the month, putting core PPI at 6.9%, also the largest gain on record. Estimates were for respective gains of 0.4% and 7.2%, meaning the monthly gain was faster than estimates but the year-over-year measure was a bit slower.
The department’s record keeping for the headline number goes back to November 2010, while the core calculation dates to August 2014.
Those numbers come with headline consumer prices running at their fastest pace in nearly 40 years and core inflation the hottest in about 30 years.
Demand for goods continued to be the bigger driver for producer prices, rising 1.2% for the month, a touch slower than the 1.3% October increase. Final demand services inflation ran at a 0.7% monthly rate, much faster than the 0.2% October rate and a sign that the services side could be catching up in prices after lagging through much of the recovery.
