The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the US producer price index up 0.6% in October, after increasing 0.5% in September. The U.S. PPI is up a record 8.6% for the 12 months ending in October, this is the highest annual pace going back to November 2010. Over 60% of the headline number can be credited to the increase in final demand goods. The index for final demand goods increased 1.2% and followed a 1.3% jump in September. In October, three-quarters of the advance of the final demand goods can be attributed to a 4.8% increase in final demand energy prices. The Core PPI, which excludes the more volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.4% month-over-month and 6.2% for the 12-month period ending in October, this is also the highest annual pace going back to November 2010. Final demand services rose for the 10^th consecutive month by 0.2%, with two-thirds of the increase attributable to a 0.4% gain in trade services – the margins received by wholesalers and retailers. About 80% of the increase in prices for final demand services can be attributed to margins for automobiles and automobile parts retailing, which rose 8.9%.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the consumer price index rose 0.9% in October; this follows a 0.4% increase in September. The index’s year-on-year rate is up a seasonally adjusted 6.2%, the fastest annual pace since 1990. Price increases were broad-based with the indexes for energy (+4.8%), used car and truck (+2.5%), new vehicles (+1.4%), food (+0.9%), and shelter (+0.5%) all contributing. The energy index is up some 30% over the past 12 months. The gasoline index rose 49.6% over the last year, fuel oil is also up 59.1% year over year.  The food index is up 5.3% over the past 12 months. Core CPI, which excludes the more volatile food and energy costs increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in October, a significant uptick over September’s 0.4%. The annual rate of Core CPI inflation is 4.6% and follows a 4.0% reading in September.

The Labor Department reported a decrease in initial jobless claims for the week ending November 6. The seasonally adjusted initial claims came in at 267,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised level. The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility was 278,000 a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised average, this is the lowest average since March 2020.  For the week ending October 30, the insured unemployment rate was 1.6%.  The total number of unemployment claims for the week ending October 30 reported in at 2.16M up 59,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised level. The continuing claims 4-week moving average was 2,245,000, a decrease of 110,750 from the previous week, this is the lowest average since March 2020. According to the unadjusted data for the week ending October 30 - Missouri (-3,014), Florida (-2,286), Virginia (-1,482), Oklahoma (-1,324), and Pennsylvania (-1,026) all saw decreases in initial claims. States hard hit by auto manufacturing cutbacks saw increases - Kentucky (+2,882), Louisiana (+907), Minnesota (+885), Tennessee (+798), and New Jersey (+768).  For the week ending October 23, 2.57M people were receiving jobless benefits through state or federal programs, a decrease of 107,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised level. There were some 21.7M weekly claims filed for the comparable week in 2020.