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Wholesale inflation accelerated in September after two straight months of falling prices for producers’ goods and services, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.
The producer price index, which tracks the prices producers charge for their goods and services, rose 0.4 percent in September. Economists expected a smaller 0.2-percent increase in producer prices last month.
Producer prices are up 8.5 percent on the year, down from an 8.7 percent inflation rate in August and in line with economists’ expectations.
Prices for goods and services without food, energy or trade — three volatile areas of the economy — rose 5.6 percent over the past 12 months, the same rate as in August, and 0.4 percent last month alone.
Producer price inflation rebounded last month as gas prices stabilized near current levels. Two months of plunging gas prices in July and August helped turn producer price inflation negative after the steep rise in energy prices over April and May pushed it toward record levels.
