The producer price index, reported Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marked its biggest monthly rise since March 2022 and largest annual gain since December 2022. Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a 0.6% monthly advance and a 5.5% annual rate.
Energy prices drove a sizable chunk of the increase, as the Middle East conflict curtailed oil supply and sent prices surging. A stripped-down measure excluding food, energy and trade service costs rose 0.5% in September and 5% compared with a year earlier.
The report follows Wednesday's consumer price index, which showed prices up 0.6% from August to September and 3.7% on a 12-month basis, also above the 3.6% annual figure economists had expected. Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3% on the month and 2.6% year over year, marginally ahead of forecasts.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a survey of economic conditions published Wednesday, contained the highest number of inflation-related mentions on record, according to an analysis by Bespoke Investment Group, underscoring how price pressures now dominate the central bank's picture of the economy.
Separately, retail sales grew 0.8% in September, beating the 0.4% economists anticipated but slowing from the more than 1% rise recorded a month earlier, suggesting consumers are still spending even as price pressures persist.
