Updated: 14-Jan-25 09:17 ET

December PPI

Updated: 14-Jan-25 09:17 ET

Highlights

• The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.2% month-over-month in December (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%), leaving it up 3.3% year-over-year versus 3.0% in November.
• Excluding food and energy, the index for final demand was unchanged month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%), leaving it up 3.5% year-over-year versus 3.5% in November.

Key Factors

• On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand increased 3.3% in 2024 versus 1.1% in 2023. Prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services jumped 3.3% in 2024 versus 2.7% in 2023.
• The index for final demand goods increased 0.6% in December, led by a 3.5% jump in the index for final demand energy.
• The index for final demand services was unchanged following a 0.3% increase in November.
• The index for processed goods for intermediate demand rose 0.3% after being unchanged in November.
• The index for unprocessed goods for intermediate demand spiked 3.2% (largest advance since August 2022), paced by a 10.0% increase in the index for unprocessed energy materials.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that the better-than-expected monthly readings have been clouded by the less inspiring year-over-year readings, as well as the understanding that inflation at the wholesale level moved in the wrong direction in 2024 (versus 2023) and remains elevated relative to the Fed's 2% inflation target.

Category	DEC	NOV	OCT	SEP	AUG
Final Demand	0.2%	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%
Core (excluding ...)
Food and Energy	0.0%	0.2%	0.2%	0.4%	0.4%
Food, Energy, and Trade	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.1%	0.2%
Final Demand Goods
Total	0.6%	0.7%	0.1%	-0.3%	0.0%
Energy	3.5%	0.0%	0.4%	-2.9%	-1.0%
Finished Goods	1.0%	0.9%	0.0%	-0.2%	0.2%
Final Demand Services
Total	0.0%	0.3%	0.3%	0.5%	0.5%
Trade	-0.1%	0.7%	0.0%	1.3%	1.1%
Intermediate Demand
Processed	0.3%	0.0%	0.4%	-0.9%	-0.1%
Unprocessed	3.2%	0.1%	2.4%	-1.6%	-3.3%
Services	0.4%	-0.3%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%