Wholesale prices rose more than expected in April, according to new data released Tuesday. However, when analyzing the March PPI revisions, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the release was “mixed.”
“We had a PPI reading just a few hours ago, and I would say it’s actually quite mixed,” Powell said during a panel discussion in Amsterdam. “You know, the headline numbers were higher, but they were adverse revisions.”
He added: “I wouldn’t call it hot, I would call it kind of mixed.”
Wholesale prices rose 0.5% month-on-month in April, above expectations of 0.3%, according to the latest release of the Producer Price Index, which measures the prices producers receive for goods produced.
The “core” producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy categories, rose 0.5%, above estimates for a 0.2% increase. Also, in the statement, the monthly price increase for March was revised down to a decrease of 0.1% from the initial reading of an increase of 0.2%.
Speaking broadly on inflation, Powell said on Tuesday that his confidence that inflation will continue to slow is not as high as it was at the beginning of the year and that the central bank will need to be patient before cutting interest rates.
“We didn’t expect this to be a smooth road, but this is it [inflation readings] “It was higher than I think anyone expected,” Powell said. “What that told us was that we were going to need to be patient and let the restrictive policy do its work.”
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