Producer Price Index

The Labor Department today reported a 0.1% drop in producer prices for the month of December. Excluding the more volatile measures of food and energy, core wholesale prices rose 0.2%. Economists had expected a gain of 0.2% for both the PPI and the core.

Food prices for December increased by 1.3%, offset by a decline of 1.9% in energy prices.

For the year, producer prices have increased an intolerable 6.3%.