A closely watched inflation indicator ticked up unexpectedly in December, stoking concerns that consumers and the U.S. economy continue to face challenges from rising prices.
The Producer Price Index, which measures changes in U.S. wholesale prices paid by businesses, increased by 0.5% in December, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
December's data marks the index's highest rate in the last three months. The jump can be largely attributed to a 0.7% rise in service prices, the BLS said, noting this is its largest increase since July.
The bureau said the majority of the jump in service prices is from trade services, with over 40% from a "rise in margins for machinery and equipment wholesaling."
Why won't anyone think of those poor companies?
I mean, this affects your locally owned organic grocery store and neighborhood taco truck just as well as it affects multinational corporations. Maybe moreso. If you have a corner cafe you like, or a hole in the wall gym, or maybe an ice cream parlor that you've gone to since you were a kid - they could be impacted and driven out of business by price increases. And if that happens, the owners and people who work there are out of a job.
So yeah. I'm gonna think of them.