Energy, services fuel jump in U.S. producer prices

[November 09, 2018]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in October and at their fastest pace in six years, but measures of underlying inflation pressure cooled.

A customer shops ahead of Thanksgiving holiday at a Walmart store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 23, 2016. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski/File Photo

Prices paid by producers rose 0.6 percent in October, the biggest gain since September 2012, with much of the increase fueled by a jump in costs for energy and trade services, according to figures published on Friday by the U.S. Labor Department.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected producer prices to rise 0.2 percent from September.

But for a core measure of producer price pressures, cost gains slowed, the data showed.

Producer prices outside food, energy and trade services rose 0.2 percent in October, down from a 0.4 percent gain in September. Compared to a year earlier, these core prices were up 2.8 percent, compared to 2.9 percent in the 12 months through September.

Excluding only food and energy, prices rose 0.5 percent in October after gaining 0.2 percent in September. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent rise.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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