Investing.com - U.S. producer prices rose in October, according to data released on Friday.
The Labor Department said its producer price index increased 0.6% last month. In the 12 months through October, the PPI rose 2.9%.
Economists had forecast the PPI rising 0.2% last month and increasing 2.5% from a year ago.
The core PPI increased by 0.5% from a month earlier and rose 2.6% in the 12 months through October.
Core PPI is a key gauge of underlying producer price pressures that excludes food and energy costs.
The numbers support an expected increase of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed held interest rates steady on Thursday, as expected, but remained on track to continue gradually raising interest rates.
The central bank hiked U.S. interest rates three times this year and is widely expected to do so again in December.
The “growth of business fixed investment has moderated from its rapid pace earlier in the year,” the Fed said in its statement, indicating the central bank sees some moderating of the economy, but is content with its slow and steady rate hike pace.