The numbers: Wholesale prices posted the biggest drop in April since the pandemic in 2020, but the decline in inflation appeared to be a one-off tied to falling egg and gasoline prices and a quirky category that measures certain business profit margins.
The big reversal in the producer price index was unexpected. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.3% increase last month.
The rate of wholesale inflation in the past year, meanwhile, slowed to 2.4% from 3.4%.
Wholesale prices fell a slight 0.1% if the volatile categories of food, energy and retail trade margins are omitted. The so-called core rate is seen as a better predictor of future inflation.
The benign report on wholesale inflation follows a mild increase in consumer prices last month.
Those two inflation reports are used to help compile the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation barometer, known as the PCE. Taken together, they suggest the PCE will also show a softening in inflation in April.
Big picture: The trade wars unleashed by President Trump didn’t appear to affect inflation in April since many of the tariffs weren’t put in place until mid-month or later.
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