November 18, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices jump in October

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods jumped 1.1 percent in October, seasonally adjusted. This index edged up 0.1 percent in September and showed no change in August.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among finished goods, the index for finished energy goods advanced 4.2 percent in October, following a 0.9-percent gain in September. (Excluding gasoline, prices for finished goods would have risen 0.6 percent in October.)

The index for consumer foods turned up 0.7 percent in October, after falling 0.6 percent in September. Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy rose 0.5 percent in October, compared with a slight increase of 0.1 percent in the prior month. 

For the first 10 months of 2002, the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods increased at a 2.0-percent seasonally adjusted annual rate, following a 1.6-percent rate of decline in calendar-year 2001. Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy edged up at a 0.2-percent seasonally adjusted annual rate during the first 10 months of 2002, after posting a 0.9-percent gain in 2001.

From October 2001 to October 2002, finished goods prices rose 0.6 percent.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program.  Find out more in "Producer Price Indexes, October 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 02-629.  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.