US Inflation Jumps To Highest In 7 Months

Producer Price Inflation data soared higher than expectations across the board this morning with Final Demand up 1.4% YoY (against 1.1% expectation) to its highest since Aug 2013. The main driver was food and apparel prices (rather unexpectedly) but we also note that ex-Food-and-Energy was a 0.6% rise (vs 0.2% exp.) which is the biggest month over month jump since March 2011.

Final demand services:

 The index for final demand services rose 0.7 percent in March, the largest advance since a 0.8-percent jump in January 2010. In March, over 60 percent of the broad-based increase can be traced to margins for final demand trade services, which climbed 1.4 percent.(Trade indexes measure changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers.) Prices for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing increased 0.4 percent, and the index for final demand transportation and warehousing services rose 0.5 percent.

In March, MoM Ex Food and Energy surged (well above expectations) thanks to a 3.3-percent increase in margins for apparel, jewelry, footwear, and accessories retailing led the advance in prices for final demand services.

Final demand goods: Prices for final demand goods were unchanged in March after moving up 0.4 percent in each of the prior three months. In March, a 1.1-percent increase in the index for final demand foods and a 0.1-percent rise in prices for final demand goods less foods and energy offset a 1.2-percent decline in the index for final demand energy.

Product detail: In March, advances in the indexes for pork; residential natural gas; pharmaceutical preparations; sausage, deli, and boxed meats; and fluid milk products offset declines in prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, primary basic organic chemicals, and fresh fruit and melons.

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