WASHINGTON – U.S. producer prices were unchanged in October as the price of services fell, another sign that U.S. inflation remains modest.
The Labor Department says that its producer price index was unchanged last month after rising 0.3 percent in September. Services prices fell 0.3 percent, pulled down by a record 5.7 percent drop in the price of brokerage and other financial services. The services drop was offset by a 0.4 percent increase in the prices of goods, including a 2.5 percent increase in wholesale energy prices.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.2 percent in October.
Over the past year, producer prices have risen 0.8 percent, modest but still the highest annual gain December 2014. Core inflation was up 1.2 percent annually.
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