by John Hugh DeMastri
Wholesale prices beat expectations in November, a sign that inflation might not fall as quickly or steeply as previously hoped, according to CNBC.
Producers and businesses saw prices rise 0.3% from October, with so-called “core prices” rising 0.4% when the more volatile food and energy sectors were discounted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). With both measures expected to rise by just 0.2%, as well as a 3.3% increase in food costs offsetting a 3.3% decline in energy costs, producers prices are still set to remain well above pre-pandemic levels, even though they have fallen from the 11.7% year-over-year surge seen in March, CNBC reported.
#NEW Wholesale inflation pressures run hot in November@BLS_gov producer price index +0.3% monthly vs +0.2% expected, +7.4% annually
That marked the third straight monthly gain of 0.3%
Core PPI +0.3% monthly vs +0.2% expected, +4.9% annually
— Greta Wall (@GretaLWall) December 9, 2022
“Many small businesses rely on Christmas season sales to make them profitable for the year, and historic input costs as a result of reckless spending by President Biden and Congressional Democrats are making this goal especially difficult to achieve,” Job Creators Network President Alferdo Ortiz said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Congressional Republicans must put an immediate end to this inflationary spending, starting by blocking Democrats’ year-end wish list that includes the re-establishment of the expanded child tax credit, which would cost $1.4 trillion and make today’s inflation even worse.”
On an annualized basis, prices rose 7.4% in November, falling from 8.1% in October, with the BLS revising its October value up 0.1 percentage point from its initial report last month. Core prices rose 6.2% in November, surpassing economists’ expectations of a 5.9% increase, according to CNN.
Various food items saw significant monthly hikes, most notably a 38.1% hike in the price of fresh and dry vegetables and a 26% hike in fresh eggs, with the two indices up 80.6% and 244% respectively in the past 12 months, according to the BLS. While the overall energy index nudged down 3.3%, residential natural gas costs were still up 14.5% on a yearly basis, while electricity was up 12.4%.
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John Hugh DeMastri is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Grocery Shopping” by Kampus Production.
