2018.08.0909:19:00UTC+00U.S. Producer Prices Unexpectedly Flat In July

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed producer prices unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of July.

The Labor Department said its producer price index was unchanged in July after rising by 0.3 percent in June. Economists had expected producer prices to increase by 0.2 percent.

The unchanged reading on producer prices came as a 0.1 percent uptick by the index for final demand goods was offset by a 0.1 percent dip in prices for final demand services.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core producer price index inched up by 0.1 percent in July after climbing by 0.3 percent in the previous month. Core prices had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

Compared to the same month a year ago, producer prices in July were up by 3.3 percent, reflecting a modest slowdown from the 3.4 percent increase in June.

The annual rate of growth in core producer prices also slowed to 2.7 percent in July from 2.8 percent in the previous month.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on consumer price inflation in the month of July. Consumer prices and core consumer prices are both expected to rise by 0.2 percent.