U.S. wholesale prices fell last month in another sign that inflationary pressures are easing, according to the Associated Press.
The Labor Department said Friday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — fell 0.4% from February, its first drop since October 2023. Compared with a year earlier, producer prices rose 2.7%, down from a 3.2% year-over-year gain in February and much lower than the 3.3% economists had forecast. Gasoline prices fell 11.1% from February, and egg prices, which had skyrocketed because of bird flu, plummeted 21.3%.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called “core” wholesale inflation fell 0.1% from February, the first drop since July. Compared to a year earlier, core producer prices were up 3.3% and lower than economists had forecast.
