In February, the Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation increased to 1.6%, surpassing expectations of 1.1%. Core PPI inflation also rose to 2.0%, exceeding expectations of 1.9%. This marks a resurgence in both Consumer Price Index (CPI) and PPI inflation.
Key Highlights:
Initial Jobless Claims:
– Actual: 209K 🔴
– Expected: 218K
– Previous: 210K
Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg.:
– Actual: 208.00K
– Previous: 208.50K
Continuing Jobless Claims:
– Actual: 1,811K
– Expected: 1,900K
– Previous: 1,794K
PPI ex. Food/Energy/Transport (MoM) (Feb):
– Actual: 0.4%
– Previous: 0.6%
PPI ex. Food/Energy/Transport (YoY) (Feb):
– Actual: 2.8%
– Previous: 2.6%
Core PPI (YoY) (Feb):
– Actual: 2.0% 🟢
– Expected: 1.9%
– Previous: 2.0%
Retail Sales (MoM) (Feb):
– Actual: 0.6% 🔴
– Expected: 0.8%
– Previous: -1.1%
Core PPI (MoM) (Feb):
– Actual: 0.3% 🟢
– Expected: 0.2%
– Previous: 0.5%
Core Retail Sales (MoM) (Feb):
– Actual: 0.3% 🔴
– Expected: 0.5%
– Previous: -0.8%
Retail Control (MoM) (Feb):
– Actual: 0.0%
– Previous: -0.3%
Retail Sales (YoY) (Feb):
– Actual: 1.50%
– Previous: 0.04%
The latest data makes a March interest rate cut highly unlikely.
Moreover, the possibility of a rate cut in May is now in doubt as well.
The February Goods PPI saw a significant increase, with 70% of the rise attributed to the energy index, which surged by 4.4%.
A 6.8% rise in gasoline prices accounted for one-third of the overall increase in the index for final demand goods in February.
