Producer Price Index (PPI). aka Wholesale Price Index, May 14, 2024. Graphs.

[progree]

CORE PPI (without food, energy, & trade services):
. . . April: +0.4% (ughh)
. . . Last 12 months: +3.1% (biggest gain in the 12 month number since April 2023);

Regular PPI:
. . . April: +0.5% (uggh)
. . . Last 12 months: +2.2% (biggest gain in the 12 month number since April 2023);

This is disappointing in that the PPI is generally the lowest of the 3 inflation measures that I follow (CPI, PCE, PPI).

The 12 month numbers are nice (core +3.1%) and excellent (regular PPI +2.2%). Unfortunately the more recent month-over-month numbers are generally quite a bit higher than the earlier numbers. So the trend isn't good.

As for the graphs: Since the core measures are what the Fed focuses mainly on as a base for projecting FUTURE inflation, I'll present it first, followed by the regular "headline" PPI.

As for which core PPI measure (there are two core measures), since the BLS highlights the one below (without food, energy, and trade services) in its reporting (as opposed to the one without food and energy), then I guess I should do likewise.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm

BLS Data Series CORE PPI (excluding food, energy, trade services): http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/WPSFD49116


On the 3 month: A nice little downturn for 2 months as big increases in Dec'23 and Jan'24 drop out of the 3-month window.
Unfortunately the new April'24 number is over 5% annualized - the worst of the 13 months shown with the exception of January.
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BLS Data Series Regular PPI ( includes "everything" ): http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/WPSFD4



It's not a pretty picture.

EDITED TO ADD 10:45 AM ET:

The other inflation graphs are at: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143231474#post1

(It also has the PPI graphs that were made BEFORE today's update. I think I'll wait until the CPI report comes out tomorrow before producing the latest all-three inflation measures graphs somewhere).

There's also an LBN thread on the latest PPI report: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143240265