Wholesale prices rose 0.9% in July, much more than expected
Key Takeaways
The producer price index was expected to a show a 0.2% increase for July, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
3 min read
Estimated completion
investment
Article classification
August 14, 2025
01:02 PM
CNBC
Original publisher
watch now2:5502:55Wholesale prices rose 0.9% in July, much more than expectedSquawk BoxWholesale prices rose far more than expected in July, viding a potential sign that inflation is still a threat to the U.S. economy, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Thursday showed.The ducer price index, which measures final demand goods and services prices, jumped 0.9% on the month, compared to the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.2% gain
It was the biggest monthly gain since June 2022.Excluding food and energy prices, core PPI rose 0.9% against the forecast for 0.3%
Excluding food, energy and trade services, the index was up 0.6%, the biggest gain since March 2022.On an annual basis, headline PPI increased 3.3%, the biggest 12-month move since February and well above the Fed's 2% inflation target.Services inflation vided much of the push higher, moving 1.1% higher in July for the largest gain also since March 2022
Trade services margins rose 2%, coming amid developments in President Donald Trump's tariff implementations
In addition, 30% of the increase in services came from a 3.8% increase in machinery and equipment wholesaling
Also, portfolio management fees surged 5.8% and airline passenger services prices rose 1%.Stock market futures fell ing the release, while shorter-duration Treasury yields moved higher.Though PPI is ed less closely than the BLS' consumer price index, it vides important information on pipeline prices
Together, the measures into the Commerce Department's personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's primary inflation forecasting gauge, which will be d later this month.With CPI coming in right around expectations earlier this week, had been pricing a virtual certainty that the Fed will lower its key interest rate when it meets next in September. ing the release, odds of a September cut decreased but only slightly, according to the CME Group's FedWatch."The large spike in the ducer Price Index this morning shows inflation is coursing through the economy, even if it hasn't been felt by consumers yet," wrote Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management. "Given how benign the CPI numbers were on Tuesday, this is a most unwelcome surprise to the upside and is ly to unwind some of the optimism of a 'guaranteed' rate cut next month.The reports come amid escalating questions over BLS data accuracy.Trump earlier this month fired the former BLS commissioner and said he intends to nominate Heritage Foundation economist E.J
Antoni as the next head of the bureau
Antoni has been a critic of the BLS and even has floated the idea of suspending the monthly nonfarm payrolls report until data accuracy can be better insured.The BLS has been hamstrung by budget cuts and layoffs that have forced it to alter the way it collects data
July's PPI report was the first since the bureau eliminated some 350 from the exhaustive count of input costs.
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet