Cheaper gas causes sharp fall in producer prices

US wholesale prices took a sharp monthly fall in January pulled down by the plunge in gasoline prices, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
The producer price index dropped 0.8 percent last month, the third month in a row the PPI has fallen, and the fifth fall in six months.
Over a one-year period, the index was flat.
The fall came on the back of a 10.3 percent drop in energy prices, itself the result of plunging crude oil prices around the world.
But food prices were also down 1.1 percent.
Core PPI, stripping out food and energy, was down 0.2 percent in the month.
Services prices also fell, by 0.2 percent, further underscoring the lack of inflationary pressure in the economy despite firm overall growth.