WASHINGTON (TND) — It’s a game of numbers no one seems to be winning. The brand new Producer Price Index, which shows how much manufacturers pay their suppliers, just hit its highest rate in a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“What this indicates is a lot of the progress that we’ve seen in slowing inflation - that stalled in early 2024," said Gus Faucher, Chief Economist with PNC Financial Services Group, in an interview with The National Desk Tuesday.

Known as “wholesale inflation,” the April rate rose 2.2%, with costs expected to be passed on to consumers in the months ahead, following three months of less-than-ideal numbers.

Speaking at the annual Foreign Bankers Association meeting in Amsterdam Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the waiting game for interest rates to be cut will likely go on even longer.

We did not expect this to be a smooth road but these were higher than I think anybody expected."

He added, "I don’t think it’s likely based on the data that we have that the next move that we make will be a rate hike. I think it’s more likely that we’ll be at a place where we hold the policy rate where it is."

Words like “sticky” and “stubborn” are now common ways to characterize what’s known as "services inflation" or what we pay for things like medical care, car repairs and travel.

Another worrying sign is what Americans owe on housing and non-housing expenses, known as "household debt" which has been steadily climbing and just reached $17.7 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

VOTE | Will the high cost of living be the key factor in your vote for president in Nov.?

The labor market is also still incredibly tight with a shortage of workers, and many of those who are working still struggle to make ends meet, admitted Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in an interview with Bloomberg Television Monday.

The cost of living in many areas is very high and it is a concern to Americans and it is President Biden’s top priority to do all he can to bring down the cost of living," she said.

We will have an even clearer picture of inflation on Wednesday with the release of the Consumer Price Index, which is what consumers pay for everyday goods and services.

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