Hospital PPI rises for third month

The acute-care hospital Producer Price Index increased 0.2% for the second straight month in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The increase is the third month that the Producer Price Index for acute-care hospitals crept upward after a record one-month drop of 1%, according to preliminary data.

July's gain to the acute-care hospital PPI is slightly smaller than the 0.4% increase reported in July 2012.

For the year that ended in July, the acute-care hospital Producer Price Index increased 1.7% compared with 2.8% the prior year.

The physician office Producer Price Index increased 0.4% in July after several months of declining or soft growth in prices. The PPI for physician offices was flat in June.

The year's increase in physician office PPI was smaller than the hospital increase. The 0.4% increase in physician office PPI for the year ended in July underscores the recent sluggish price gains. The physician office PPI for the prior year, which ended in July 2012, increased 1.3%, the same rate as the year before that.

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