US producer prices fall
November 16th, 2011 - 11:47 am ICT by IANSWashington, Nov 16 (IANS/EFE) The US Producer Price Index dropped 0.3 percent last month after a rise of 0.8 percent in September, the US Labor Department said Tuesday.
The figure for the month of October was better than expected by analysts, who had predicted only a 0.2 percent decrease.
The decline in producer prices was due, according to the Labor Department, chiefly to energy costs that fell 1.4 percent.
The index for consumer food items rose 0.1 percent in October, the fifth straight monthly increase.
The index for intermediate goods was down 1.1 percent in October, with raw material prices falling by 2.5 percent.
In one year, wholesale prices went up 5.9 percent, 1 percentage point less than the interannual rate registered in September of 6.9 percent.
Another government report released Tuesday showed retail sales growing by 0.5 percent in October thanks to stronger buying in the automotive, electronic and appliance sectors.
It was the fifth consecutive month of retail growth, the Commerce Department said.
Excluding auto and gasoline sales, where monthly fluctuations tend to be quite sizeable, retail sales rose by 0.7 percent, the best figure since March.
The October report shows that growth in the fourth quarter got off to a good start.
The rebound in consumer spending was the basic reason why the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the third quarter, the best quarterly performance in a year.
–IANS/EFE
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