US producer prices fell in November, the government said today in a report that showed inflation at the wholesale level was more subdued than economists had expected.
The producer price index, a measure of prices received at the factory and farm gate, fell 0.4 per cent in November after an unexpectedly large 1.1 per cent increase in October.
The November drop was the largest since a matching 0.4 per cent dip in May. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core index fell 0.3 per cent after a 0.5 per cent advance in October.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected both the overall producer price index and the core index to be unchanged in November.
November's price declines were primarily driven by two areas. Energy prices declined 1.8 per cent, partially reversing October's 4.2 per cent increase. The price of passenger cars fell 3.6 per cent, the largest such decline in 13 months, after a 2.2 per cent October increase.
Year-over-year, wholesale prices were up 0.9 per cent, an accelerating from October's 12-month increase of 0.6 per cent.