U.S. Producer Prices Jump 6% in April as Energy and Tariffs Broaden Inflation
Updated
Updated · CNBC · May 13
U.S. Producer Prices Jump 6% in April as Energy and Tariffs Broaden Inflation
11 articles · Updated · CNBC · May 13
Wholesale inflation accelerated sharply in April, with the producer price index rising 1.4% from March and 6% from a year earlier—the biggest annual increase since December 2022.
Energy drove much of the surprise: final demand energy climbed 7.8%, and a 15.6% gasoline surge accounted for more than 40% of that increase as pump prices moved above $4 amid Iran war pressures.
Price gains were not limited to fuel. Core PPI excluding food and energy rose 1%, while services increased 1.2%—the largest monthly gain since March 2022—and trade services jumped 2.7%.
Those services gains suggest tariff costs introduced a year ago are spreading through supply chains, adding to concerns that wholesale price pressure will keep feeding into consumer inflation.
As prices soar and growth slows, is the American economy on the brink of 1970s-style stagflation?
With Mideast oil choked off by war, which Western Hemisphere nations will become the new energy superpowers?
Is the global economy's reliance on a few shipping chokepoints a fatal flaw exposed by this war?