weekend commentary - the PRODUCER price index ...
... which many argue is far more representative of actual inflation than the consumer price index ...
(snip)"Details of PPI
Wholesale energy prices soared 3.6% in March, the biggest increase since November. Gasoline prices rose 8.7%, while residential natural gas prices rose 3.3%.
Food prices rose by 1.4%, the fourth straight month of 1%-plus gains, fed by severe weather in some growing regions and the diversion of corn to producing ethanol for fuel. Fresh vegetable prices rose 13.5%. Beef prices rose 4.1% and dairy prices rose 1.9%. Corn prices, however, fell 1.3% after jumping 16% in February.
Prices of wholesale capital equipment fell 0.1%. Light truck prices dropped 1.2%, continuing the saw-tooth pattern of big gains followed by big losses.
"We estimate that the core excluding motor vehicles was 0.2% -- right in line with expectations," wrote David Greenlaw, an economist for Morgan Stanley, in a research note.
Computer prices fell 2.6%, the most in five months.
Prices of intermediate goods rose 1%, led by a 4.1% increase in energy and a 1.7% gain in foods. Core intermediate prices rose 0.2%, including a record 12.7% increase in fertilizer materials.
Prices of crude goods rose 3.2%, led by basic industrial materials, which jumped 7.7%. Crude energy goods prices rose 1.7%, as crude oil prices fell 1.3%. Foodstuffs prices rose 2.4% on large increases in vegetables, chickens, milk and cattle. End of Story "
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