Producer Prices Off in November

Washington, DC, December 20, 2005—Producer prices were off 0.7% in November, according to the Labor Department, for the largest monthly decline since April 2003.

The core index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1%.

Economists were expecting the PPI to fall 0.3% and the core rate to rise 0.2%.

Over the past year, the PPI has risen 4.4% and the core rate is up 1.7%.

Crude goods prices fell 1.2% in November, but were still up 21% year-on-year. Intermediate goods prices decreased 1.2%, but were up 8.4% over the past 12 months.