U.S. Producer Prices Rise 1.3% in September

U.S. producer prices rose 1.3% in September, the largest monthly increase since March 2022, as a sharp rise in energy costs drove a broader increase in goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said prices measured by its final-demand Producer Price Index were up 6.3% from a year earlier, the largest 12-month increase since December 2022. Energy prices climbed 10.8% during the month and accounted for more than 80% of the increase in final-demand goods prices, according to the BLS. Gasoline prices rose 20.3%, contributing about half of the goods-price increase. Final-demand goods prices overall advanced 2.6%, the largest monthly gain since the agency began calculating that series in December 2009. Services prices rose 0.8% after increasing 0.2% in August. A 1.4% rise in trade-services margins accounted for nearly half of the increase in services prices. Food prices rebounded 1.2%, while prices excluding food and energy rose 0.3% in the goods category. A measure of final-demand prices excluding food, energy and trade services increased 0.5% in September, accelerating from 0.3% in August. It was up 5.0% over the year.