Factory gate prices miss forecasts in October

Factory gate prices in the US undershot forecasts in October, weighed down by prices for food and services.

The US producer price index was flat month-on-month and 0.8% higher versus a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists had forecast increases of 0.2% and 1.2%, respectively.

At the core level, stripping out the more volatile food, energy and trade components that is, prices slipped 0.1% when compared against September but were 1.6% higher for the past 12 months.

Economists had anticipated a 0.2% gain on the month.

So-called final demand goods prices were up by 0.4% and by 0.1% at the core level, while those for services decreased by 0.3% in comparison to the prior month.

"Falling prices for services - which account for 72% of the core PPI - explain the drop in the overall core. The biggest contribution was a 5.7% plunge in prices for securities brokerage, etc., costs, following a 3.9% jump in September.

"[...] We are profoundly skeptical of the reliability of these estimates, and this report does not change our view that rising PPI inflation and China and the tightening of the domestic U.S. labor market mean that the risk to PPI inflation over the next year is mostly to the upside," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.