US inflation cooled off at the wholesale level as businesses’ margins took a big hit in August, new data showed Wednesday.
Producer prices unexpectedly fell 0.1% in August, cooling annual inflation to 2.6% from a downwardly revised 3.1%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Helping to drive prices lower was a 1.7% drop in trade services, a volatile category reflective of producers, wholesalers and retailers’ profit margins.
Economists were expecting that the index, which measures the change in prices received by producers of goods and services, would increase by 0.4% on a monthly basis and hold unchanged at the previously estimated 3.3% from a year ago.
PPI serves as a potential bellwether for the prices consumers may see at businesses in the months ahead.
This story is developing and will be updated.