US producer prices soar 9.6% in November, highest on record

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US producer prices soared 9.6% in November on an annual basis, its highest level on record, according to figures released Tuesday by the Labor Department.

The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures changes in the price of goods and services from a producer perspective, was expected to show an annual increase of 9.2% last month. The October figure was revised up from 8.6% to 8.8%.

The rise in November marked "the largest advance since 12-month data were first calculated in November 2010," said the Labor Department.

The PPI rose 0.8% in November from the previous month, also coming higher than the market expectation of 0.5%. In October, it was up 0.6% from September.

Core producer prices, which exclude food, energy and trade, moved up 0.7% in November from the previous month.

Core PPI in November increased 6.9% on an annual basis, the highest on record.

Rising inflation has become a huge problem for the American economy and the Federal Reserve that will kick off a two-day meeting Tuesday.

The Fed is expected to hike at least one rate hike for 2021 to tame rising inflation after the meeting Wednesday.

Consumer prices rose 6.8% in November year-on-year, its largest annual increase since June 1982, according to the US Labor Department.