FX.co ★ US Core PPI Holds Steady at 3.5% in December, Signaling Stable Underlying Price Pressures

The United States’ Producer Price Index excluding food, energy, and transport (core PPI) rose 3.5% year-over-year in December 2025, unchanged from the 3.5% annual increase recorded in October 2025. The latest data, updated on 30 January 2026, indicate that underlying producer price pressures have remained stable into the end of the year.

Measured on a year-over-year basis, the indicator compares the change in producer prices for December 2025 to the same month a year earlier, while the previous reading reflected the change in October 2025 versus October a year before. The lack of movement between the two readings suggests that core input costs for producers, once volatile components are stripped out, are neither re-accelerating nor easing meaningfully at this stage.

For markets and policymakers, the steady 3.5% pace in core PPI ex. food, energy, and transport will be read as a sign of persistent but contained inflationary pressure in the production pipeline. Investors may look to upcoming inflation and activity data for confirmation of whether this plateau in core producer prices points to a more durable stabilization in the broader inflation trend.