Producer prices recorded an increase in December although it fell short of the expectations of economists. Nevertheless, this figure is high in line with the surge in inflation to a nearly 40 -year high based on a report by the Department of Labor.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures prices received by producers of goods, services and construction, rose 0.2% for the month, half of the Dow Jones ’0.4% estimate. However, based on annual counts, the index has risen 9.7% for December. It is the highest annual increase ever recorded since 2010.
On the other hand, there are no less significant reports that initial jobless claims for the week ended January 8 totaled 230,000, well above the 200,000 estimate and a substantial increase from 207,000 the previous week.
It will be so if we look at it from a long -term point of view, come unemployment is lower. Ongoing claims based on data from the previous 2 weeks decreased by 194,000 to 1.56 million, the lowest level since June 2, 1973.
With the unemployment rate continuing to fall, the unemployment rate for December declined to 3.9 where the market was more focused on inflation. Thursday’s PPI reading was released a day after the consumer price index. Where the CPI is an index that measures the price paid in payment for a large number of daily goods and services it recorded a 7% year -on -year increase, the largest 12 -month increase since June 1982.
Core PPIs that do not measure food, energy and trade rose 0.4% in December, below the 0.5% estimate. Final demand prices for food and energy both fell during the month, declining 0.6% and 3.3%, respectively. Trade prices increased 0.8% while transportation and warehousing costs increased 1.7%.
The US dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against major currencies, declined further by 0.20% to a trading level of 94.707 after the PPI report was released.
