Updated: 09-Apr-21 09:28 ET

March PPI

Updated: 09-Apr-21 09:28 ET

Highlights

• The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.0% month-over-month in March (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%). The index for final demand, excluding food and energy, jumped 0.7% m/m (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%.
• On a year-over-year basis, the index for final demand was up 4.2% (highest since 12 months ending September 2011), versus 2.8% in February. The index for final demand, excluding food and energy, was up 3.1% yr/yr, versus 2.5% in February.

Key Factors

• The index for final demand goods rose 1.7% m/m in March. That was the largest since the index began in December 2009; 60% of the increase was attributed to prices for final demand energy.
• The index for final demand services increased 0.7% m/m, with nearly half of that increase owed to margins for final demand trade services.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report isn't in the headline numbers. They are important, but the key takeaway is the pipeline pressures evident in the index for processed goods for intermediate demand, which increased 4.0% m/m in March (largest jump since August 1974), and in the index for unprocessed goods for intermediate demand, which surged 9.3% m/m (highest since November 2006). Those large increases point to inflation issues that are apt to linger for producers and which could potentially spill over into consumer prices.

Category	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC	NOV
Final Demand	1.0%	0.5%	1.3%	0.3%	0.1%
Core (excluding ...)
Food and Energy	0.7%	0.2%	1.2%	0.1%	-0.1%
Food, Energy, and Trade	0.6%	0.2%	1.2%	0.4%	0.2%
Final Demand Goods
Total	1.7%	1.4%	1.4%	1.0%	0.3%
Energy	5.9%	6.0%	5.1%	4.9%	1.3%
Finished Goods	1.3%	1.5%	1.1%	0.8%	0.2%
Final Demand Services
Total	0.7%	0.1%	1.3%	-0.1%	-0.2%
Trade	1.0%	0.1%	1.0%	-0.8%	-0.6%
Intermediate Demand
Processed	4.0%	2.7%	1.7%	1.4%	1.3%
Unprocessed	9.3%	4.3%	3.8%	2.2%	7.4%
Services	0.4%	0.7%	1.3%	0.4%	-0.1%