October 17, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices rise again

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods increased 0.4 percent in September, seasonally adjusted. This advance followed a 0.4-percent rise in August and a 0.9-percent decline in July.

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The index for finished goods other than foods and energy turned up 0.3 percent in September, compared with a 0.1-percent decrease in the preceding month. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by intermediate goods producers increased 0.1 percent, following a 0.4-percent drop in August. The crude goods index fell 4.1 percent in September, after posting a 2.3-percent decrease a month earlier.

From September 2000 to September 2001, prices for finished goods advanced 1.6 percent.

The reference date for the Producer Price Index is the Tuesday of the week containing the 13th day of the month. September's reference date was Tuesday, September 11; price changes that occurred subsequent to the reference date are not reflected in these data. Survey respondents provided data to the Bureau at approximately the same rate in September as they did in prior months.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in the "Producer Price Indexes, September 2001", news release USDL 01-347. 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.