U.S. Producer Prices Post Record Drop on Tumbling Energy Costs

U.S. producer prices posted a record decline in January, weighed down by plunging energy costs, pointing to very benign inflation pressures in the near term. The Labor Department said on Wednesday its producer price index for final demand dropped 0.8 percent, the biggest drop since the revamped series started in November 2009, after falling 0.2 percent in December. It was the third straight month of decline in the PPI. In the 12 months through January, producer prices were unchanged, the weakest year-on-year reading since records started in November 2010, after rising 1.1 percent in December. Lower energy prices, against the backdrop of softer global demand and increased shale production in the United States, and a strengthening dollar are dampening domestic inflation prices. http://yhoo.it/17qExaQ http://bit.ly/1fJ5yqZ