September 20, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices in August 2006

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 0.1 percent in August, seasonally adjusted. This advance followed increases of 0.1 percent in July and 0.5 percent in June.

[Chart data—TXT]

The index for finished consumer foods advanced 1.4 percent in August after moving down 0.3 percent in July. Prices for fresh and dry vegetables surged 20.7 percent following a rise of 6.5 percent in the previous month.

The index for finished energy goods increased 0.3 percent in August following a 1.3-percent gain in July. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy decreased 0.4 percent in August after declining 0.3 percent in the prior month.

From August 2005 to August 2006, prices for finished goods advanced 3.7 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — August 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-1636. 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.