Jan. 12 (UPI) — U.S. wholesale prices declined to end 2023 but was up overall for the year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday.
The Producer Price Index measure of wholesale inflation, seasonally adjusted, declined 0.1% for December and rose 1% for all of 2023 compared to 6.4% wholesale inflation for 2022.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the decline for December was driven by a 0.4% fall in goods prices.
The unadjusted index for final demand goods fell 0.4% in December, the third consecutive decline, according to the BLS.
Core PPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices rose 0.2% in December.
Nearly 60% of the month’s decrease was due to a 1.2% drop in prices for final demand energy.
The PPI for final demand foods moved down 0.9%. Wholesale prices for goods excluding foods and energy were unchanged.
The BLS Friday report said diesel fuel prices were down 12.4% in December. Prices for eggs, cars and jet fuel also declined while gasoline prices rose 2.1%.
When energy, food and trade services are excluded, inflation rose slightly for December.
For November PPI wholesale inflation was up 0.9% from November 2022 on an annual basis, lower than the 1.2% increase in October. Lower costs for crude petroleum drove that November result.
Those November wholesale inflation numbers for goods and for services declined.
Inflation data is carefully tracked by the Federal Reserve to monitor economic response to the various forces at play, including the Fed’s money tightening interest rate increases throughout 2023 designed to return the U.S. economy back to a 2% annual inflation rate.
Core December consumer inflation, which excludes food and energy prices — was up 3.9% year-to-year.
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