US wholesale prices fell the most in five years in April, with a historic drop in gauges measuring profit margins suggesting businesses have so far refrained from passing along the cost of higher tariffs.
The producer price index fell 0.5 per cent month-on-month in April, according to figures published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday, from no change in March. That was the first monthly decline since October 2023 and the biggest drop since April 2020. Economists expected a 0.2 per cent increase.
“Core” PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, dropped 0.4 per cent, the biggest decline most since 2015. The year-on-year increases in headline and core PPI eased to 2.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.