February Inflation Surges: PPI Up 1.6% and Core PPI at 2.0%

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.