February 27, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI in January 2008

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 1.0 percent in January, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a decline of 0.3 percent in December and a 2.6-percent advance in November.

Percent change from 12 months ago, Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, not seasonally adjusted, January 1999-January 2008
[Chart data—TXT]

The upturn in finished goods prices was led by the index for energy goods, which increased 1.5 percent in January after falling 3.0 percent in December.

Prices for finished goods excluding foods and energy advanced 0.4 percent following a 0.2-percent rise in the preceding month. The index for finished consumer foods increased 1.7 percent after climbing 1.4 percent a month earlier. 

From January 2007 to January 2008, prices for finished goods rose 7.4 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — January 2008" (PDF) (HTML), news release USDL 08-0259. 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.