Producer Inflation Fell Short In March – Is The Hormuz Shock Still Loading? (UPDATED)

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional content.
Wall Street braced for the Hormuz shock to hit wholesale prices in March. The data said not yet.
The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.5% month-over-month in March, matching February’s pace of 0.5% but landing below the 1.1% consensus estimate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On an annual basis, PPI came in at 4% — below expectations of 4.6% — but up from 3.4% in February and hitting the highest value since February 2023.
Core PPI told the same story. PPI excluding food and energy rose just 0.1% on the month, well below the 0.5% forecast, and decelerated to 3.8% year-over-year against a 4.1% consensus.




Metric
Actual
Consensus
Previous




PPI MoM
0.5%
1.1%
0.5%


PPI YoY
4.0%
4.6%
3.4%


Cor