October PPI up just 0.1%, core PPI is flat

Producer prices rose just 0.1% in October, while the core rated registered no increase, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday, with both stats coming in below consensus expectations.

The consensus had called for a 0.3% rise in PPI and a 0.2% rise in core PPI.

The October 2007 statistics were aided by falling energy prices, which fell 0.8%, including a 3.1% drop in gasoline prices and a 2.5% drop in heating-oil prices, the Labor Department said.

"All-in-all, it's a pretty good PPI report," economist M. David Chandler told bloggingstocks. "Of course, the October statistics don't reflect the delayed pass-through of higher gasoline prices and heating oil prices, which will probably show up in the November, but that still doesn't blot-out the fact that overall PPI costs were mostly contained in October."

However, on a 12-month basis, PPI is up 6.1%, while core PPI is up 2.5%. Both statistics exceed most economists' ceiling for reasonable PPI inflation in a growing economy.

"We still have above-average PPI on a 12-month basis, and I don't doubt that the Federal Reserve is watching this, particularly the core PPI," Chandler said.