Wholesale Prices in U.S. Decrease by Most in Three Years

[Purveyor]

By Alex Kowalski - May 15, 2013
Wholesale prices in the U.S. dropped in April by the most in three years, reflecting a decrease in fuel costs that is helping underpin profits.

The producer-price index declined 0.7 percent, the biggest decrease since February 2010, after falling 0.6 percent in March, according to a Labor Department report released today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 73 economists projected the index would decline 0.6 percent. So-called core wholesale inflation, which excludes often-volatile food and energy prices, climbed 0.1 percent.

Slow growth in the U.S. and abroad is holding input-price gains in check for American factories. Absent a surge in inflation, policy makers at the Federal Reserve have the option of weighing whether the U.S. economic expansion needs more stimulus to pick up.

“For now, producers are in a pretty comfortable position,” said Jacob Oubina, a senior economist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in New York, who correctly forecast the April drop in prices. “Input costs are benign at the moment.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-05-15/wholesale-prices-in-u-s-fell-in-april-by-most-in-three-years.html

[pipoman]

1. IOW

the shit we don't need is getting cheaper while the cost of those things we do need..food, energy, medical care..are skyrocketing..I buy food, around 6k per week, and I can assure you that wholesale food prices are not decreasing or staying static..

[DCBob]

2. Funny, Republicans has insisted for years that inflation would skyrocket..

as a result of all the money manipulations by the Fed. Boy, were they wrong.