Jerome Powell on how inflation impacts Fed policy
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell discusses the factors that the U.S. central bank considers when setting interest rates.
U.S. producer prices climbed last month at the fastest pace since October 2018 as higher prices for services more than offset a drop in the cost of energy.
Continue Reading Below
The Labor Department said Wednesday that its producer price index, which measures inflationary pressures before they reach the consumer, jumped 0.5% in January after rising 0.2% in December. The monthly increase was much bigger than economists expected.
Over the past year, wholesale prices are up 2.1%.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer inflation rose 0.5% in January from December and 1.7% from January 2019.
The Labor Department said much of the 0.7% January increase in services prices came from higher markups for clothes, jewelry, shoes and accessories.
Much of the 0.7% January increase in prices came from higher markups for clothes, jewelry, shoes and accessories, the Labor Department said. Energy prices dropped 0.7% last month, pulled down by a 1.5% decrease in gasoline prices. HIGHEST-PAYING US JOBS THAT DON'T REQUIRE A COLLEGE DEGREE Food prices rose 0.2% in January. But the price of chicken eggs plummeted 42.4% last month, the most in records dating back to 1937. Last week, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices blipped up 0.2% last month and rose 2.5% over the past year. The Federal Reserve aims to keep annual consumer inflation around 2%. Source: Read Full Article