BREAKING: Bidenflation pushes producer-price index up 11.3% in June
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2022/07/14/breaking-bidenflation-pushes-producer-price-index-up-11-3-in-june-n482693asten your seatbelts, because inflation’s still going to be a bumpy ride for the next few months. Despite repeated insistence from the White House that we’ve seen the worst of inflation, the producer-price index rose at its fastest level in three months in June. Final-demand year-on-year PPI inflation hit near a new record at 11.6% as well:
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.1 percent in June, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This rise followed advances of 0.9 percent in May and 0.4 percent in April. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, final demand prices moved up 11.3 percent for the 12 months ended in June, the largest increase since a record 11.6-percent jump in March 2022.
In June, three-fourths of the advance in the index for final demand was due to a 2.4-percent rise in prices for final demand goods. The index for final demand services increased 0.4 percent.
Prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 0.3 percent in June after advancing 0.4 percent in both May and April. For the 12 months ended in June, the index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services rose 6.4 percent.
So much for Peak Inflation. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that voices “on the street” were claiming that we’d seen the worst of it, despite the fact that the CPI number had hit a new record:
The inflation report cemented expectations that Federal Reserve policy makers will raise their target range on overnight rates by three-quarters of a percentage point when they meet in two weeks. That shifts investors’ focus to what might happen at the Fed’s subsequent policy-setting meeting in late September. By then, the picture could look different, as prices for many of the things that pushed inflation higher have lately shown signs of turning over.
Start with gasoline. The average price of a gallon of regular in June was $4.93, according to the Energy Information Administration, up from $4.44 in May. But pump prices have been falling, with regular fetching $4.65 as of Monday. And to judge by the decline in gasoline-futures prices since last month, further price declines are probably coming.
Prices for a variety of other inflation drivers have also been falling. The S&P GSCI agriculture index, which includes crops such as corn and cocoa, has fallen by a quarter since its May peak, while the industrial-metals index has fallen by a third. Wholesale used-vehicle prices slipped in June from May, according to Manheim, which should lead to lower prices on dealer lots.
Meanwhile, excess inventories are leading retailers such as Walmart and Target to put more items on sale. For many of the goods that Americans loaded up on since the pandemic struck, such as appliances and furniture, there should be markedly less inflation, or outright price declines, in the months ahead.
Inflation continues to go up.
