U.S. producer prices fall more than expected in December

[January 15, 2019]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices fell more than expected in December, weighed by down by a plunge in the cost of energy products, pointing to moderate inflation pressures at the factory gate.

The Labor Department said on Tuesday its producer price index for final demand dropped 0.2 percent last month after edging up 0.1 percent in November. That left the annual increase in the PPI at 2.5 percent in December.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI slipping 0.1 percent in December and gaining 2.5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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