Services lift US producer prices in October

U.S. producer prices unexpectedly rose in October, but the underlying trend continued to point to a benign inflation environment that could persuade the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates very low a bit longer.
The Labor Department said on Tuesday its producer price index for final demand increased 0.2 percent, driven by a jump in prices in the services sector. The PPI had declined 0.1 percent in September.

Economists had expected prices received by the nation's farms, factories and refineries to slip 0.1 percent last month. October also saw the introduction of prices for new motor vehicle models, which could also have contributed to the unexpected increase in producer prices last month.