Strong U.S. PPI Pushes Fed to Do More
FxPro Financial Services Ltd | Feb 16, 2023 10:41AM ET
After consumer prices, US producer prices delivered another hawkish surprise. PPI rose by 0.7% in January, impressively stronger than the expected +0.4%. The annual price growth rate slowed from 6.5% to 6.0%, against expectations of 5.4%.
It is worth disregarding the slowdown in the annual inflation rate, as it is due to the high base effect of the previous year, while the monthly increase remains above the historical average.
Producer prices are a couple of months ahead of consumer prices, so today's release is a crucial hawkish signal for the Fed to continue raising rates without letting inflation expectations hang in the balance.
Aside from high inflation, the labour market also needs more reasons to take a breather. Initial jobless claims remained below 200k for the fifth week in a row, complementing the 3% rise in retail sales in January.
Overall, this mix of data suggests that the economy is in good shape. Still, it now risks triggering a reassessment of the monetary policy outlook, which is harmful to the markets.
The FxPro Analyst Team
Get The News You Want
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.