US producer price index flat in August

US producer price index was unchanged in August, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The reading came in below the 0.1% increase expected by analysts, but up from a 0.4% decline in July. When excluding volatile categories such as food and energy, PPI rose 0.1% last month, as expected.     

From a year earlier, the PPI was flat in August,while excluding food and energy, prices were up 1.2% on the year.