Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Producer prices in September told a tale of goods vs. services (plus; programming note)

 – by New Deal democrat First, a scheduling note. Several data releases have been made this morning. Several more delayed releases having to do with housing *might* be released tomorrow. Alas, the very late Q3 GDP report is not going to be released at all until the end of December. There will be no releases on […]

September producer prices almost entirely benign; very little upward pressure in the pipeline

– by New Deal democrat Sometimes producer prices lead consumer prices; sometimes they don’t – but in the sense that sometimes there is no lag at all before increases show up in consumer prices. In any event, overall the message from the producer price index this morning was benign, with very little pressure “in the […]

September producer prices confirm economic tailwind has ended

September producer prices confirm economic tailwind has ended  – by New Deal democrat My strong suspicion has been that the tailwind of declining commodity prices, typified by the big decline in gas prices in late 2022 is what allowed the US economy to grow so well so far this year, blunting the effects of major […]

A note on producer prices and (possibly) cooling inflation

A note on producer prices and (possibly) cooling inflation One point I make from time to time is that, with seasonally adjusted data, YoY comparisons can miss, or at least lag, turning points. We *may* have such a situation developing with producer prices as evidenced by this morning’s report (Feb. 15). On a YoY basis, […]