Wholesale Prices Accelerated in January, PPI Data Show
By Matt Grossman
Monthly wholesale unexpectedly inflation sped up in January, the Labor Department said Friday.
The producer-price index increased by 0.5% last month, after rising by 0.4% in December. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a 0.3% increase.
Over the 12 months through January, wholesale prices were up 2.9%.
PPI inflation reflects the prices that businesses receive for their goods and services, including in business-to-business transactions, but without retailers' markups or distribution costs. These figures are more volatile than the widely tracked consumer-price index, which reflects the prices shoppers see at businesses and online.
Wall Street analysts watch the producer-price index closely, however, because some of its price data are blended with CPI figures and import prices to calculate the personal-consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric.
Analysts can therefore use Friday's numbers to refine their forecasts for the January PCE inflation report, due on March 13. Those refreshed forecasts will arrive later Friday morning.
Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 27, 2026 08:57 ET (13:57 GMT)
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