Transportation and warehousing costs fell

Most of the increase in overall wholesale prices was driven by a 0.4% increase in services. Trade moved up by 0.7% in November versus a 0.1% decline in the month before. The cost of transportation and warehousing fell by 0.9% in November, however.

The price of goods climbed by a mere 0.1%, with food increasing by 3.3% but energy more or less balancing that out with a 3.3% decline. The spike in food prices is likely an anomaly and not part of a trend, Roach said. The United Nations food agency’s world price index fell slightly in November.

To be sure, the prices that companies pay for goods and services don’t automatically translate into lower consumer prices, as the prices of labor and capital have to be factored in. But consumer prices got an unexpected jolt from Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and those prices coming back down is a critical aspect of decreasing overall inflation.

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