Dados EUA: PPI

[notiCIas]

Wholesale prices tumble

Overall May reading falls 0.6% due to lower energy costs; core PPI up only 0.1%.

June 14, 2005: 9:11 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Prices paid by businesses in May fell sharply due to lower oil prices, as the government report showed less inflationary pressure than Wall Street expected.

The Labor Department reported that the Producer Price Index, a measure of inflation on the wholesale level, fell 0.6 percent in the month, compared with a 0.6 percent rise in April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the PPI would fall 0.2 percent in the period.

Energy prices fell 3.5 percent during the month, according to the report, while food prices fell 0.3 percent. It was the sharpest drop in oil prices since April 2003, as oil prices fell 7.2 percent following three months of sharp increases ahead of the the war in Iraq. The 0.6 percent fall in the overall PPI was also the biggest percentage drop since April 2003.

The so-called core PPI, which excludes often volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1 percent, compared with a 0.3 percent gain in April. Economists forecast had been for a 0.2 percent increase in that closely watched inflation reading. It marks the third month in the last four that the core PPI has gained only 0.1 percent.

Investors and economists have been looking for clues about whether the Federal Reserve might soon pause or halt its policy of regular quarter-point interest rate hikes. Treasury prices rose and the yield on the 10-year note fell following the report, as well as a separate report showing weaker than expected retail sales, as both reports raised hopes of a Fed pause after its June 30 meeting.