PPI Report: Wholesale Inflation Falls 0.1% In August

A measure of wholesale prices fell in August, coming in lower than Wall Street estimates, following a rise in July.

The producer price index, a gauge of prices that producers receive for their goods and services in the open market, edged lower by 0.1% in August, after rising 0.9% in July.

On an annual basis, headline inflation saw a 2.6% increase in August, compared to 3.1% in July.

Core PPI, which excludes food, energy, and trade services, moved up by 0.3% in August, marking the fourth consecutive increase, the BLS report stated. On an annual basis, core PPI rose 2.8%, which is the largest 12-month advance since climbing 3.5% in March 2025.

Goods prices increased by 0.1% in August, while services prices witnessed a 0.2% fall during the month.

Within goods, the BLS noted that prices of tobacco surged nearly 2.3%, emerging as a major driver of goods inflation in August. Indexes of beef and veal, processed poultry, printed circuit assemblies, boards, modules, and modems, and electric power fuel rose during the month, while utility natural gas, fresh and dry vegetables, chicken, eggs, and copper base scrap declined.

Regarding the decline in service costs, the agency noted that 75% of the decrease in the index in August could be attributed to a 3.9% decline in margins for machinery and vehicle wholesaling. Indexes for professional and commercial equipment wholesaling, chemicals and allied products wholesaling, furniture retailing, food and alcohol retailing, and data processing also declined.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities gained in Wednesday’s pre-market trading session as investors digested inflation data. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.57%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.6%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was up 0.18% at the time of writing.

Also See: US Mortgage Rates Decline To 11-Month Low As Treasury Yields Slip: Report

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