Amid a further plunge in energy costs and weak economic conditions that have put downward pressure on prices, U.S. wholesale prices fell 1.9% in December the Labor Deparment said on Jan. 15.
In November prices fell 2.2% while in October the decrease was 2.8%.
For the whole of 2008, producer prices fell 0.9% compared with a 6.2% advance the year earlier. "The 2008 downturn is mostly attributable to energy prices, which dropped 20.3% after rising 17.8% a year earlier," the Labor Department said.
In December, energy prices fell 9.3% after declining 11.2% the earlier month while food prices fell 1.5% after staying flat during the same period.
The so-called core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% after a more modest 0.1% rise in November.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
