Producer Price Index Falls 0.2% in December

Prices paid to U.S. producers fell 0.2% in December, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

The producer price index decline followed a 0.8% drop in November. The so-called core PPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1%, Labor said.

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

For the full year, the PPI rose 1.3%, while the core rate rose 2%.

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.