Producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% last month
U.S. producer prices increased moderately in December, but that is unlikely to change views that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates again before the second half of this year amid labor market resilience.
The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% last month after an unrevised 0.4% advance in November, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI climbing 0.3%.
In the 12 months through December, the PPI accelerated 3.3% after increasing 3.0% in November. The surge in the year-on-year rate reflected last year's lower prices, especially for energy products, dropping out of the calculation.