PPI: -4.8% YOY Through September, Core PPI +1.8% YOY. Inflation Fear Is Back Burner.

The US Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the business and manufacturing levels of the economy, was -0.6% in September and -4.8% year-over-year through September. Excluding volatile oil and food costs from the readings, “Core” PPI for September was -0.1% and +1.8% YOY through September. You can also view and download historical PPI data by scrolling down to our Data section on the right side of the site.

Back in February, inflation wasn’t a concern and deflation was the primary worry. And in the last several months, it’s been a see-saw: Inflation fear in April, Inflation benign in May, fear in June, benign in July, fear in August, benign in September. The -0.6% monthly figure is a significant drop from August’s +1.7% monthly figure. On surface level, market sentiment seems to be that inflation shouldn’t be an issue for some time because aggregate demand is compromised by weakened consumers and businesses. But bond still trade wildly as we see-saw back and forth on these two sentiments. All this month’s measures of PPI are within the Fed’s 1-2% comfort zone for inflation. See the September CPI report for more on this topic.