July 16, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices fall in June 

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.4 percent in June, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed increases of 0.1 percent in May and 0.3 percent in April. 

[Chart data—TXT]

A 2.5-percent decrease in June's finished energy goods index followed a 0.2-percent increase in May. Prices for finished consumer foods posted a 0.1-percent gain, compared with a 0.4-percent decrease in May. Prices for finished goods, excluding foods and energy, increased 0.1 percent in June, after registering a 0.2-percent gain in May. 

During the first 6 months of 2001, the finished goods price index advanced at a 2.4-percent seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), after rising at a 2.5-percent rate during the latter half of 2000. In the first half of this year, the rate of increase in finished energy goods prices slowed to a 1.4-percent SAAR from a 9.2-percent rate of increase during the final 6 months of last year. Offsetting this deceleration, the index for finished consumer foods advanced at a 5.6-percent SAAR from December 2000 to June 2001, compared with a 0.7-percent rate of increase during the previous 6 months.

From June 2000 to June 2001, prices for finished goods gained 2.5 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in the "Producer Price Indexes, June 2001", news release USDL 01-216. All producer price indexes are routinely subject to revision once, 4 months after original publication, to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents.