The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand increased 1.0 percent in March according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That is significantly more than the 0.5% expected by analyst with it jumping on an unadjusted basis by 4.2 percent for the 12 months ended in March, making it the largest increase since September 2011.
60% of the increase is due to to a 1.7% rise in prices for final demand goods with services up 0.7%.
For just goods, the 1.7% increase is “the largest increase since the index began in December 2009,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Much of this rise is due to a 5.9% jump in prices for energy, with gasoline prices up 8.8%.
This higher than expect rise in prices is likely to increase concerns about inflation following mass money printing especially in the United States.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Thursday he wouldn’t panic if inflation reached 4%, double the previous target of 2%.
Last year Fed announced a new policy of targeting inflation above 2% for some time due to it being below this target for a considerable time.
Kashkari said that means Fed won’t “shortcut the recovery,” suggesting we should expect an upcoming period of higher inflation that may even reach 4%.
This expected higher inflation could partially explain bitcoin’s rise due to its finite monetary supply, with the currency asset currently eyeing a break of $60,000.
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