US factory gate prices for February come in slightly below forecasts
Factory gate inflation continued to ease in February as price pressures in services eased.
So-called total final demand prices increased at a 0.1% month-on-month pace last month (consensus: 0.2%), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as goods prices bounced back by 0.4% versus January while those services were unchanged.
In January, goods prices had risen by 0.8% and those for services by 0.3%.
Versus a year ago, the rate of increase in total final demand prices was unchanged at 1.9%, as expected by economists.
At the core level meanwhile, which excludes food, energy and trade, price gains slipped from 2.5% in January to 2.3% for last month.
Withing services, trade services prices declined by 0.4% on the month while in transportation and warehousing they fell by 1.3%.
Commenting on the data, Ian Shephrdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "Overall, these data are comforting to the Fed, but the PPI is not the target inflation variable and it’s not always a reliable guide to inflation at the consumer level."