Washington – Wholesale prices fell in August by the largest amount in 10 months, reflecting a plunge in the price of gasoline and other energy products and the fourth straight month of falling food costs.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale prices fell by 1.4 percent last month, the best showing since a 1.5 percent fall last October. It was a much bigger decline than the 0.3 percent drop that had been expected and was led by a 6.6 percent plunge in energy costs, the biggest drop in more than four years.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, was also well under control, rising by just 0.2 percent. The good price performance should further ease concerns about inflation.
The 1.4 percent drop in the department’s Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, more than reversed a 0.6 percent jump in wholesale prices in July.
The government will report on consumer prices today, and they also are expected to show that inflation pressures are slowing.
Consumer prices rose just 0.1 percent in July.
