By Tom Burnett CFA
On January 18, 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report on the Producer Price Index for December 2022. The PPI declined by 0.5% in December, after advancing by 0.2% in November and by 0.4% in October. Over the past 12 months, the PPI rose 6.2%, following an increase of 10.1% for the 2021 year. The 6.2% annual rate was the smallest in any month of the 2022 year. In December, prices for goods fell by 1.6% while prices for services rose by 0.1%.
In December, the Core PPI, excluding food and energy, rose by 0.1%, following an increase of 0.3% in November. For the 2022 year, the Core PPI rose 4.6%, compared to an increase of 7.0% for 2021. The 4.6% year over year rate was the smallest 12-month increase of any month in 2022.
The Index of Food prices fell by 1.2% in December, after rising by 3.3% in November. The Energy Index fell by 7.9% in December.
The next PPI report will be released on February 16, 2023.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research