Wholesale costs rose simply 0.2% in April, lower than anticipated as inflationary pressures ease

Wholesale prices rose less than expected in April, a Labor Department report on Thursday said, giving hope that inflation is at least trending down.

The producer price index, a measure of the prices of final demand goods and services, rose 0.2% versus the Dow Jones estimate of 0.3%. Ex-food and energy, the core PPI also rose 0.2%, in line with expectations.

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On an annual basis, the headline PPI rose just 2.3%, compared to 2.7% in March and the lowest reading since January 2021.

Though the PPI rise was smaller than expected, the services index rose 0.3%, the sharpest rise since November 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics report said.

A separate Labor Department report on Thursday showed that jobless claims jumped to 264,000 in the week ended May 6, up 22,000 from the previous period. The total was well above the Dow Jones estimate of 245,000 and the highest since Oct. 30, 2021.

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