US wholesale price April data points to easing inflation pressure
Al JazeeraWholesale prices in the United States rose modestly last month, the latest sign that inflationary pressures may be easing more than a year after the Federal Reserve unleashed an aggressive campaign of steadily higher interest rates. From March to April, the government’s producer price index rose just 0.2 percent after falling 0.4 percent from February to March, held down by falling prices for food, transportation and warehousing. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale inflation rose 0.2 percent from March and 3.2 percent from 12 months earlier. April’s mild producer price figures amount to “much needed and awaited good news” for the Fed’s fight against inflation, said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. Thursday’s wholesale figures follow a government report from Wednesday that showed that at the consumer level, core prices rose 0.4 percent from March to April — the fifth straight month that those prices have risen at least that much, well above the pace needed to meet the Fed’s 2 percent annual inflation target.