by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
But a drop in energy prices had a soothing effect on overall PPI, which also accelerated, but by less.
The Core Producer Price Index bounced back sharply in August from the negative reading in July that had been heralded as yet another sign that inflation was dead. So inflation is not dead. The bounce-back was driven by the massive bounce-back of the Services PPI and, very interestingly, a spike in the Finished Goods PPI.
“Core” PPI jumped by 3.9% annualized in August from July, seasonally adjusted (blue in the chart below), driven by services (+4.6%), which dominate core PPI, and also by finished core goods (+4.1%), according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.