Ex food and Energy -0.1% vs. +0.1% est.
The US PPI data for the month of March came in weaker than expectations. The month on month final demand fell by -0.1% vs. +0.2% expected. taking out the volatile food and energy prices decline by -.1% as well vs. +0.1% estimate.
Year on year final demand fell by -0.1% vs. +0.3% estimate. The ex-food and energy was also weaker at =1% vs. +1.3% estimate.
Taking out the effects of Trade, food and energy the MoM showed no change for the month (est. +0.1%). The YoY rose by +0.9%.
The BLS said that the final demand for services fell by -0.2% in March which was the first decline since October 2015. A -0.5% decline in margins for final demand trade services accounted for 80% of that decline for services.
Final demand for goods moved up +0.2%. This was the first increase after 8 straight declines. Most of the increase can be attributed to energy which rose 1.8% for the month. If you took out the food and energy it was up by +0.1%. Prices for final demand foods declined by -0.9%.
Overall, a weaker than expected report across the board. Coupled with the retail sales weakness, the expectations may be that some GDP estimates released later today, may be on the edge of heading to minus numbers.