Wholesale inflation slowed sharply in March after a year of Federal Reserve rate hikes, with producer prices rising at their slowest pace in two years.
The Producer Price Index (PPI)—which reflects price changes by manufacturers, farmers, and wholesalers—fell by 0.5 percent month-over-month in March, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Consensus forecasts expected the PPI inflation gauge to remain flat over the month at zero percent.
“March PPI with a significant downside surprise,” Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi, said in a statement. “Cooling in demand coming through in this data.”
On a year-over-year basis, the PPI gauge came in at 2.7 percent, also below forecasts calling for a 3 percent pace of wholesale inflation….