By Mathew Katz
Wholesale prices paid to producers were down in 0.9 percent in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number comes from a BLS report on the Producer Price Index, which represents prices paid to producers of goods -- like farmers and factories. A major factor in the drop was a 2.4 percent decline in energy prices. The index for July is down 6.8 percent from a year ago -- the biggest year-on-year drop since the government began keeping records in 1947.
The drop is important because it counters some fears of inflation, but it's also another sign of slack in the economy -- between this and today's housing starts numbers, it looks like we're not quite in a recovery yet.
categories: News
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