Producer Prices Jump the Most Since 2022 — and Services Lead

The producer price index for April rose 1.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis, more than triple the consensus estimate and the largest monthly gain since 2022. Energy was the leading line, but the more uncomfortable signal sat in services.

Services PPI rose 1.2% — the biggest jump since March 2022 — with two-thirds of the move driven by trade margins. That breadth is what turns a one-month surprise into a persistence problem.

Economists who had been forecasting a clean glide path to disinflation now have to defend that view against three consecutive months of broadening pressure. Several have stopped trying.