A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed producer prices in the U.S. rose by slightly more than expected in the month of August.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand crept up by 0.2 percent in August, while revised data showed prices were unchanged in July.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 1.7 percent in August from a downwardly revised 2.1 percent in July.
The year-over-year increase by producer prices was expected to decelerate to 1.8 percent from the 2.2 percent originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department also released a separate report showing a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 7th.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 230,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 228,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 230,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 230,250.
At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auction of twenty-year bonds.
The Treasury Department is also due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $22 billion worth of thirty-year bonds at 1 pm ET.