Wall Street Journal (05/14/15) Jeffrey Sparshott; Kate Davidson

The producer-price index declined a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in April from March, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, a sign of continuing low inflation. Core prices, which exclude energy and food, declined 0.2%. When excluding food, energy, and trade services, the index increased 0.1%. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast that both overall and core prices would rise 0.1%.

Overall producer prices are down 1.3% from a year ago, and core prices are up 0.8%. The decline in the PPI over the last year largely is due to the falling cost of crude oil.