Inflation is still a vexing problem for most of us, but not for food and energy exchange traded funds (ETFs).
The Producer Price Index – a measure of the price of goods before they hit the stores – shot up 1.4% last month, reports Jeannine Aversa for the Associated Press. You can blame food and energy, because once those are factored out, the index really was only up 0.2%, an improvement over April’s 0.4% increase.
The nation’s factories continued to feel the pinch from the housing slump, too, as industrial production fell 0.2%. The decline is an improvement from April’s 0.7% decline, but it still disappointed economists.
Housing starts fell in May by 3.3% to the slowest pace in 17 years.