US producer prices post big gains after consumer price rise

WASHINGTON — Following Tuesday's report on consumer price inflation, the U.S. Labor Department released a separate report on Thursday showing producer prices in the United States shot up by much more than expected in the month of September. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand jumped by 1.3 percent in September after rising by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in August. Economists had expected producer prices to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices surged to 6.3 percent in September from an upwardly revised 5.6 percent in August. The annual rate of growth was expected to hold steady at the 5.4 percent originally reported for the previous month.