Producer Prices Rose Again in April

After falling in March, the U.S. producer price index rose in April, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The index, which measures what domestic businesses are paid for goods and services, rose by 0.2 percent in April. In March, the index fell 0.5 percent.

In the 12 months through April, the producer price index rose 2.3 percent, the smallest annual increase since January 2021. In March, the index was up 2.7 percent from the prior March.

Economists had forecast prices would rise by a steeper 0.3 percent for the month and would be up 2.5 percent year-over-year.

Excluding food, energy, and trade services, producer prices rose 0.2 percent, an acceleration from the 0.1 percent in rise in March. These core producer prices are up 3.4 percent over the past year, down from 3.7 percent in March.