The Economy & the Fed

Trade Services (Margins)

Inside the Producer Price Index, wholesalers and retailers are priced by their margin: what they sell a product for minus what it costs them to replace it. When a retailer’s costs rise faster than its shelf prices, its margin shrinks and this part of PPI falls, even though nothing got cheaper for shoppers. Margins swing a lot from month to month, so many economists watch PPI “less food, energy and trade services” as the steadiest read on producer prices.

Educational information, not investment advice. See it applied across the screener →