Wholesale Prices Hit Record 8.3% In August

Wholesale prices rose 8.3% in August, the Labor Department reported on Friday. This marks the biggest producer price annual increase since 12-month data was first collected in 2010.

The new figure comes after the previous record of 7.8% was set in July.

The monthly producer price index for final demand rose 0.7%, outpacing the anticipated 0.6% projected by Dow Jones. The number fell below the 1% July increase, CNBC reported.

Fears of inflation have disrupted supply chains, causing bottlenecks that resulted in a shortage of goods despite high pandemic-related demand. Federal Reserve officials expect this to ease.

“Pandemic-inhibited supply will put upward pressure on prices through year-end, but softer domestic demand will allow producer price inflation to gradually ease heading into the fall and 2022,” Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics in New York, told Reuters.

Final demand prices increased 0.3%, falling short of the Dow projected 0.5%. The core PPI is up 6.3% from last year, marking the largest increase since 2014.

One-third of the gains came from beauty products, amounting to a 7.8% increase, and prices related to hospital care fell 1.5%.

Food experienced a gain of 2.9% that included an 8.5% increase in meat products. Poultry prices rose 11%. Prices for iron, steel and diesel all fell.