US wholesale inflation stagnated in February, helped by a decline in services costs and pointing to some relief on prices before additional tariffs were imposed by the Trump administration.
The producer price index was unchanged from a month earlier following a revised 0.6% increase in January, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.3% gain. Compared with a year earlier, the PPI was up 3.2%.
The wholesale data follow a BLS report Wednesday which showed consumer prices rose just 0.2% last month, the smallest increase since October. President Donald Trump has since announced sweeping tariffs on the country's biggest trading partners, which are set to raise prices of imported goods in the months ahead.
Analysts pay close attention to the producer price report in part because several of its components feed into the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure — the personal consumption expenditures price index, due later this month. Those categories were largely firmer, including a 1% increase in hospital inpatient care and a 0.5% rise in portfolio management costs.
Excluding food and energy, the PPI fell 0.1% last month, the first decrease since July. The core was up 3.4% from a year earlier. Details indicated the decline in services was offset by higher goods prices. Services costs overall declined 0.2%, reflecting declining margins at wholesalers and retailers. Goods prices excluding food and energy rose 0.4%, the most since the start of 2023.
The PPI data also showed food prices rose 1.7%, the most in three months, while energy costs declined 1.2%. The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose in mid-February to the highest level since 2023 before tumbling in the final week of the month amid a broader rout in financial markets.
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