March PPI Ex-Food, Energy Rose More than Expected

The Producer Price Index tracks the change in the selling price of goods and services sold by manufacturers. It is a leading indicator of consumer price inflation, because producers tend to relay higher costs to consumers through higher prices. With the economic volatility associated with rising price levels, the Fed often will raise interest rates to check inflation, given a high growth economic environment. On the other hand, low or falling PPI is indicative of declining prices, and may suggest an economic slowdown. Below is a list of today's headline reading compared to analyst estimates:

According to the

, the Producer Price Index for finished goods was unchanged in March, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Finished goods prices rose 0.4 percent in February and 0.1 percent in January. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods climbed 0.7 percent in March, and the crude goods index declined 2.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods moved up 2.8 percent for the 12 months ended March 2012, the smallest year-over-year increase since a 2.7-percent rise in June 2010. US equity futures saw an initial move lower after the 8:30 a.m. ET release, likely from the worse than expected reading in jobless claims. Currently, Dow Jones Industrial Index Futures are trading about 21 points higher in pre-market trading.