WASHINGTON (AFX) - Producer prices fell a record 1.6 pct in October from September, while the core rate, excluding food and energy prices, fell 0.5 pct, the Labor Department said. The declines in both the overall PPI and the core rate were larger than expected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for a 0.4 pct fall in the headline PPI and a 0.1 pct decline in the core rate. The previous record was a 1.3 pct decline in the PPI in Feb 1986. The principal causes of the downturn were price declines for energy goods, light trucks and consumer foods, the department said. On a year-on-year basis, the overall PPI was down 0.4 pct, the largest decline since Nov 1998. The core rate was up 0.8 pct year-on-year. In September, the PPI rose 0.4 pct and the core rate rose 0.3 pct. The report shows that the headline inflation and core inflation trend is lower so far this year compared with the same period of last year. For the first ten months of the year, the overall PPI decreased at a 0.8 pct seasonally adjusted annual rate, compared with a 3.9 pct rate rise over the same period last year. The core rate is up at a 0.8 pct rate over the first ten months of the year, compared with a 1.4 pct rate over the same period in 2000. Energy prices fell 7.7 pct in October, the largest decline since Aug 1989. The price of gasoline fell 21.2 pct, the biggest drop since March 1986, while heating oil prices decreased 28.8 pct, and liquefied petroleum gas prices fell 10.2 pct. Residential natural gas prices fell a record 6.0 pct. Food prices fell 0.4 pct in October after rising 0.2 pct in the previous month. The decline in the core rate was due to price decline in passenger cars and light trucks. Passenger car prices fell 4.7 pct in October, the biggest drop since Oct 1972. Light motor truck prices fell 1.3 pct. The price declines were largely due to increased incentives, such as zero interest loans, the department said. Prices for goods used in the intermediate stages of production fell 1.5 pct in October, after a 0.1 pct rise in September. This is the largest decline since July 1973. Excluding food and energy prices, intermediate good costs fell 0.4 pct. The cost of crude goods, primary products that require further processing, fell 9.1 pct in October, after falling 4.1 pct in September. This is the sixth straight drop in crude good prices. The decline was led by natural gas prices, which fell 27.5 pct in October. Excluding food and energy, crude good prices fell 1.7 pct.