By Sarah Chaney and Harriet Torry 
 

WASHINGTON-A gauge of business prices increased in January, according to Wednesday's Labor Department report. Here are key takeaways:

-The producer-price index, a measure of the prices businesses receive for their goods and services, was up a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in January from a month earlier. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected prices to rise 0.1%.

-Excluding the often-volatile food and energy categories, producer prices were also up 0.5% in January.

-Compared with January 2019, the overall PPI increased 2.1% last month.

-The producer-price index has moved up on an annual basis since November, when it rose just 1.1% from a year earlier.

-The producer-price measure typically tracks the same as other inflation gauges, though it does not always translate into what consumers pay. A gauge of prices paid by the average American, the consumer-price index, increased 0.1% in January from a month earlier and 2.5% from a year earlier.

Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2020 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)

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