US wholesale prices unexpectedly drop 0.5% in April

[progree]

13. The PPI is quite volatile (edited)

Last edited Thu May 15, 2025, 10:44 AM - Edit history (2)

This is a month-by-month graph I made in March when the February numbers came out.

from: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143416825#post6
which also shows the core PPI (ex food, energy, and trade services) graphs.

I note also that April's core PPI (ex food and energy) is +0.4%, and that the Federal Reserve is much more focused on core measures than the "everything" headline measure. Edit: Correction: MINUS 0.4%, thanks Bernardo. 0.4% is a worrisome drop for one month, especially since the less food & energy core is considerably less volatile than the regular PPi number. On the other hand, the core measure that the BLS highlights: the one ex food, energy, and trade services, is down a considerably less precipitous 0.1%. Trade services is very volatile month-to-month which is why the BLS (and presumably the Fed) prefers a core measure without it.