Producer inflation sets record for sixth straight month

Producer prices rose at the fastest annual pace on record for the sixth straight month in September as supply-chain bottlenecks and materials shortages continued to drive costs higher. 

The producer price index for final demand surged 8.6% year over year, according to the Labor Department. The reading was below the 8.7% increase that analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were anticipating. Producer prices rose 8.3% year over year in August. 

Prices jumped 0.5% in September, slowing from the 0.7% increase in August. Economists were expecting a 0.6% rise. 

Almost 80% of the September increase was due to final demand goods prices rising1.3%, which was the largest gain since May. Forty percent of the increase was due to a 2.8% rise in prices for final energy demand. 

Prices for final demand services edged up 0.2% last month, making for the ninth consecutive monthly increase. More than two-thirds of the increase was due to an 11.6% rise in fuels and lubricants for retailing.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 6.8% annually and 0.2% in September. Economists were expecting increases of 7.1% and 0.5%, respectively. The annual increase was the largest since the data set began in August 2014.