Producer prices surged 0.6 percent last month as energy costs soared, and the trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in July as exports hit a record high, the government said on Tuesday in two reports.
The producer price index showed inflation pressures were somewhat less than feared on Wall Street. Economists had forecast a 0.8 percent rise in overall producer prices and a 0.1 percent increase in costs outside of food and energy. Separately, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap totaled $57.9 billion in July, down 2.6 percent from an upwardly revised $59.5 billion in June, the second highest on record. The July deficit was below the $59.8 billion consensus analyst forecast.
