Producer prices fall almost 1%

PPI falls 0.9% in July – a record annual decline – as prices at the pump sank.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. producer prices fell by a larger-than expected amount in July and notched a record decline compared with a year earlier as gasoline prices plummeted, government data Tuesday showed.

The Labor Department said the seasonally adjusted index for prices paid at the farm and factory gate dropped by 0.9% versus a 1.8% gain in June.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected producer prices to decline by 0.3% last month.

Compared with the same period last year, producer prices were a record 6.8% lower in July. They had been forecast to decline by 5.9%.

The longest U.S. recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s has crushed demand and pummeled prices throughout the economy, keeping inflation pressures firmly at bay despite massive official efforts to stimulate growth.

Reuters