Economic Buzz: US producer prices inch up 0.1% in May

After reporting an unexpected decrease by U.S. producer prices in the previous month, the Labor Department released a report Thursday showing producer prices crept slightly higher in the month of May.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand inched up by 0.1 percent after slipping by a revised 0.2 percent in April.

Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of growth by producer prices accelerated to 2.6 percent in May from 2.5 percent in April, in line with economist estimates.

The Labor Department said the monthly uptick by producer prices was led by prices for services, which edged up by 0.1 percent in May after falling by 0.4 percent in April.

Prices for trade services climbed by 0.4 percent, while prices for transportation and warehousing services dipped by 0.2 percent and prices for other services were unchanged.

The report also said core producer prices, which exclude prices for food, energy and trade services, inched up by 0.1 percent in May after edging down by 0.1 percent in April.

The annual rate of growth by core producer prices slowed to 2.7 percent in May from 2.9 percent in April.

Powered by Commodity Insights