Producer Price Index Rises 0.9% in December

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The producer price index rose 0.9% in December, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.The “core” producer price index excluding food and energy rose 0.2%, Labor said.The increase followed a 2% rise in November, which had been the biggest gain since 1974. November’s core rate gain was 1.3%.Economists had forecast a 0.5% gain in the PPI and a 0.1% gain for the core rate, 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 could also hurt the economy.