by Hwang Yoonju
Published 13 May.2026 22:12(KST)
Due to the aftermath of the Iran war, energy prices surged, causing the U.S. producer price inflation rate in April to significantly exceed expectations.
On May 13 (local time), the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for April rose by 1.4% from the previous month. This is the highest monthly increase in four years since March 2022 (1.7%), and it far surpassed the Dow Jones expert consensus forecast of 0.5%.
The year-on-year increase was 6.0%. This is the highest annual growth rate since December 2022 (6.3%).
Excluding the volatile prices of energy and food, the core Producer Price Index rose by 0.6% from the previous month, also exceeding the expert forecast of 0.3%. Compared to a year earlier, the core index increased by 4.4%.