(Washington) The wholesale price index rebounded more than expected in January in the United States, bad news for this measure of inflation on the producer side, after already disappointing figures for price increases for consumers.
Prices rose 0.3% over one month, after falling 0.1% in December, according to the PPI producer price index published Friday by the Commerce Department.
The rebound is stronger than expected, since analysts anticipated a price increase of 0.1%, according to the Briefing.com consensus.
Over one year, however, the price increase is a little less strong than in December, at 0.9% compared to 1.0%.
But, excluding the more volatile food and energy figures, the so-called underlying index records its strongest progression over one month since January 2023, at +0.6%, and remains stable over one year. , at 2.6%.
The CPI index, which measures inflation for consumers and on which pensions are, in particular, indexed, slowed less than expected in January, to 3.1% compared to 3.4% in December.
The American central bank (Fed), which is working to slow down the surge in prices, favors the PCE index, whose data for January will be published on February 29.
For the Fed, the PPI index figures “will be concerning, but it is unlikely that officials will place too much importance on this monthly figure,” comments Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist for High Frequency Economics, in a note.
“Overall, officials are likely to remain patient, looking at the whole data set rather than monthly fluctuations,” she adds.
The Fed anticipates several reductions in its main key rate in 2024, to avoid putting too much pressure on economic activity, which could cause a recession. But several of its officials have reiterated that they will be cautious and avoid launching the movement too early, for fear of seeing inflation start to rise again.