[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary tightening to curb inflation, U.S. inflation indicators have once again exceeded expectations.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 12th (local time) that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 8.5% year-over-year last month. Although this increase is slightly lower than August's 8.7%, it remains above the market forecast of 8.4%.
Compared to July, the PPI also rose 0.4%, surpassing the market expectation of 0.2%. The month-over-month PPI growth rate had declined for two consecutive months, with -0.4% in July and -0.2% in August, but returned to an upward trend after three months.
The core PPI, which excludes energy and food, increased 5.6% year-over-year and 0.4% month-over-month. The month-over-month increase in core PPI also expanded compared to July (0.1%) and August (0.2%), exceeding the market forecast of 0.3%.
The U.S. Department of Labor explained that although global supply chain disruptions have improved, rising prices in services such as travel, lodging, dining out, and hospitals accounted for two-thirds of the total PPI increase.
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