Following yesterday’s hotter than expected consumer price inflation data, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing U.S. producer prices also increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of January.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.4 percent in January after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in December.
Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth in January was unchanged from an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in December.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to slow to 3.2 percent from the 3.3 percent originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by slightly more than expected in the week ended February 8th.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 213,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 220,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 215,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 216,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 217,000.
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 $25 billion worth of thirty-year bonds at 1 pm ET.