Wholesale inflation was softer than expected, retail sales moved higher in November

Wholesale prices moved up less than expected while consumers kept up a heavy buying pace in November, according to economic data released Wednesday.

The producer price index, a measure of final demand prices that producers get in the marketplace, rose just 0.2% for the month, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was below the Dow Jones consensus for a 0.3% gain though one-tenth of a percentage point higher than October.

Excluding food and energy, core PPI was flat on the month against expectations for a 0.2% gain.

Though the monthly readings were soft, headline PPI was up 3% from a year ago, well ahead of the Federal Reserve's 2% target. Core PPI excluding trade services posted a 3.5% annual gain, the biggest 12-month move since March 2025, according to the BLS.

A 0.9% gain in goods prices fueled much of the PPI increase, with more than 80% attributable to a 4.6% jump in energy prices. Services prices were flat.

On the consumer side, retail sales rose 0.6% for November, according to Commerce Department figures adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 0.4%. Excluding autos, sales were up 0.5%, compared with the 0.3% estimate.

The November gains were broad-based, with motor vehicle and parts dealers, building material and garden centers, gas stations, sporting goods stores and miscellaneous outlets all seeing gains eclipsing 1%.

On a year-over-year basis, sales rose 3.3%, ahead of the 2.7% increase in the consumer price index for that month.

The BLS remains behind schedule in the PPI data due to the government shutdown last year, while the retail sales data also is lagging.