Wholesale prices moderating slowly, U.S. data show

May 11 (UPI) -- Wholesale prices, minus food and energy, moderated over the 12-month period to April, coming in at its lowest level in more than a year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

The month-on-month gauge of the producer price index has been highly volatile. Data through April show a 0.2% increase, though there was a retraction of 0.4% from February to March.

So-called core PPI, which strips out food and energy, came in at 3.4% over the 12-month period to April, it's slowest pace in two years. Core PPI over the 12-month period ending in April 2022 was 6.8%.

By product, the department reported that the price for everything from vegetables to steel and aircraft equipment moved higher, though fuel prices and eggs declined, with the latter dropping by 37.9%.

Moderation in prices at the wholesale level followed a mixed report for consumer prices. Consumer-level inflation through April dropped below 5%, though core inflation -- which strips out food and energy costs -- was unchanged at 5.5% over the 12-month period to April, suggesting the U.S. Federal Reserve may have more work to do to get inflation closer to its 2% target rate.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate by another 25 basis points last week as it works to make borrowing prohibitive, though persistent strength in the labor market may be incentivizing consumer demand.

Economists at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in their monthly market report for May, however, left growth estimates for the U.S. economy, the world's largest, unchanged from its prior month report. An expansion of 1.2% is expected for the year, following a growth rate of 2.1% for 2022.

Markets moved lower at the start of the trading day Thursday. The Dow was down 0.83%, while the S&P 500 was off 0.4%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ was flat at the open.