US producer inflation annually rises 2.2% in May, monthly falls 0.2%

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Producer inflation in the US annually rose 2.2% in May, but monthly fell 0.2%, according to data released Thursday.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods and services from a producer's perspective, came lower than market estimates of a 2.5% gain, after rising 2.3% in April year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, PPI declined 0.2%, and also managed to come below the market expectation of a 0.1% increase.

The figure showed a monthly gain of 0.5% in April.

"Prices for final demand goods fell 0.8 percent in May, the largest decline since moving down 1.2 percent in October 2023," the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a statement.

"Leading the May decrease, the index for final demand energy dropped 4.8 percent," it added.

Core PPI, which excludes volatile food, energy and trade prices, showed no monthly change in May, and significantly slowed down its pace from the 0.5% gain in April.

Annually, core PPI climbed 3.2% in May, following a 3.2% year-on-year gain in April.