衡量生产者获得的价格（最终需求），通常领先消费者物价（CPI）数月，是通胀的早期信号。
生产者物价指数（PPI）衡量国内生产者销售商品和服务所获价格的变化。由于捕捉的是生产环节的价格，常领先于消费者物价（CPI），被用作通胀的早期信号。
The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures the change in selling prices received by domestic producers for their goods and services. Unlike CPI, which captures prices paid by consumers, PPI reflects inflation pressure at the production stage. It is published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, typically around mid-month near the CPI release. The headline figure is based on final demand, and a core version excluding food, energy, and trade services is reported alongside it.
PPI is often treated as a leading signal for consumer inflation, because cost pressures at the producer level can pass through to consumer prices with a lag. Persistent PPI increases suggest businesses may raise selling prices, feeding into future CPI readings, while a cooling PPI points to easing pipeline pressure. Analysts focus on core PPI to filter out volatile components and identify the underlying trend. Several PPI components also feed directly into the PCE price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, which adds to its relevance.
A hotter-than-expected PPI report tends to add to inflation concerns, nudging bond yields higher and weighing on equities, though the market reaction is usually smaller than for CPI or PCE. When PPI follows shortly after CPI, it mainly reinforces or softens the inflation narrative already in place. The gap between PPI and CPI can also hint at corporate margin pressure or pricing power. Reading PPI together with CPI, PCE, and supply-chain indicators gives a fuller view of the inflation pipeline.