Producer Price Index Falls 0.2%

Prices paid to U.S. producers fell 0.2% in October for the first time in five months, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The producer price index drop followed a 1.1% rise in September. The so-called core PPI, which excludes food and energy fell 0.2%, the first drop since November 2010, Labor said.

Economists had forecast a 0.2% increase in the PPI, and a core rate increase of 0.1%, Bloomberg reported.

An increase in the PPI could indicate strong demand for goods, which would mean more shipments for trucking companies. However, if inflation begins to accelerate too quickly, it also could hurt the economy.