U.S. Producer Prices Up More Than Forecast in January

[swag]

Source: Bloomberg

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid to U.S. producers rose more than twice as much as forecast in January, pushed up by higher fuel, food and drug costs, signaling inflation may keep accelerating even as growth slows.

The 1 percent increase followed a 0.3 percent drop in December, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists projected a 0.4 percent rise. Excluding food and energy, so- called core wholesale prices climbed 0.4 percent, the most in almost a year.

Combined with figures showing consumer prices also rose more than forecast, today's report may prompt the Federal Reserve to consider raising interest rates as soon as the economy stabilizes. Fed officials, including Governor Frederic Mishkin yesterday, have warned that higher prices may stoke inflation expectations.

Policy makers will be ``looking over their shoulders,'' Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report. ``The Fed is providing two messages: `We are going to be reacting to the growth risks, but once those risks are mitigated, we're going to focus in the other direction.'''



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auV7LPuUwbfQ&refer=home

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A whopping 1% increase in one month. Can't wait for the next Consumer Price Index release.

[Crazy Dave]

1. As a business owner myself...

I had to raise my rates approximately 7% to help offset the lack of work revenue from orders coming in and I'm still falling way short of where I was two years ago

[HereSince1628]

2. More stagflation?

Time for Robin Hood to hunt stags again.

[Demeter]

3. What a Delightful Image That Created!

George Bush with an arrow in his haunch....