It was the second consecutive monthly drop in the inflation rate.

It was the biggest monthly drop in 34 years.

This is against expectations of a 1.2pc annual and 1.8pc monthly drop.

Instead, the producer price report showed a decrease in July, the seventh straight monthly drop.

This was the second consecutive monthly drop and the biggest in seven months.

It was the second straight monthly drop for the index.

It was the third consecutive monthly drop in housing starts.

The decline, the sharpest in five years, is the ninth straight monthly drop.

It was the largest monthly drop since May 1987, but the report did not cause much alarm among industry experts or economists.

The S.& P. 500 had its biggest monthly drop in almost two years.