U.S. March PPI rises 4% y/y, undershooting 4.6% forecast

Odaily Planet Daily reported that U.S. producer inflation eased versus expectations in March. The Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 4% year over year, below the 4.6% consensus estimate and up from 3.40% previously. On a month-over-month basis, headline PPI increased 0.5%, matching the revised prior reading of 0.5% (revised from 0.70%) and coming in well under the 1.1% forecast. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 3.8% year over year, compared with expectations of 4.1% and in line with the revised prior figure of 3.8%. Core PPI increased 0.1% month over month, below the 0.5% estimate and lower than the revised prior 0.3% (revised down from 0.50%). (GoldTen)