November 17, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI up sharply in October 2004

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 1.7 percent in October, seasonally adjusted. This gain followed a 0.1-percent rise in September and a 0.1-percent decrease in August.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among finished goods, prices for energy goods turned up 6.8 percent in October, following a 0.9-percent decline in September. The finished consumer foods index rose 1.6 percent, compared with a 0.1-percent increase in the prior month. By contrast, prices for finished goods other than foods and energy advanced 0.3 percent in October, the same rate of increase as in September. 

From October 2003 to October 2004, prices for finished goods advanced 4.4 percent, as shown on the chart. Over the same period, prices for finished energy goods went up 17.2 percent, the index for finished consumer foods rose 2.5 percent, and the index for finished goods other than foods and energy climbed 1.8 percent.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. For more information, see "Producer Price Indexes -- October 2004" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-2339. 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.