Wholesale prices in the United States experienced an increase last month, indicating that inflationary pressures continue to linger within the economy, albeit at relatively modest levels.
On Thursday, data released by the Labor Department revealed that the producer price index, which measures inflation before it affects consumers, rose by 0.2% from September to October. This increase is an uptick from the previous month’s 0.1% rise. Year-over-year, wholesale prices saw a 2.4% increase, up from a 1.9% gain recorded in September, with rising service costs contributing significantly to the October escalation.
When food and energy prices, which can be highly volatile, are excluded from consideration, the core wholesale prices recorded a 0.3% rise from September and a 3.1% increase compared to the same time last year. These numbers were in line with economists’ expectations.
Since the peak of inflation in mid-2022, there has been a general downward trend. However, average prices still remain almost 20% higher than three years ago— a persistent issue that has frustrated the public and recently influenced electoral outcomes, including the defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris by Donald Trump in the recent presidential election and a shift in Senate control to the Republicans.
The latest report on producer prices follows a day after the Labor Department indicated that consumer prices rose by 2.6% year-over-year last month, suggesting that inflation at the consumer level might be stabilizing. This follows a slowdown in September, which marked the lowest pace of inflation since 2021. Despite this, many economists expect that inflation will eventually continue to decrease over time.
