May 17, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI in April 2006

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.9 percent in April, seasonally adjusted. This gain followed a 0.5-percent rise in March and a 1.4-percent decline in February.

[Chart data—TXT]

Prices for finished energy goods increased 4.0 percent in April, following a 1.8-percent gain in the prior month. The home heating oil index jumped 13.7 percent, after falling 3.6 percent in the preceding month. 

The finished consumer foods index inched up 0.1 percent in April, subsequent to a 0.5-percent gain in the prior month. The index for finished consumer goods excluding foods and energy went up 0.1 percent in April, following a 0.2-percent increase in March.

From April 2005 to April 2006, prices for finished goods advanced 4.0 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — April 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-853. 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.