January 14, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices for finished goods up 3.0 percent in 1999

From December 1998 to December 1999, finished goods prices advanced 3.0 percent, after showing no change during 1998.

[Chart data—TXT]

Leading this acceleration, the index for finished energy goods surged 18.4 percent in 1999, following an 11.7-percent drop in the previous calendar year. For the 12 months ended December 1999, gasoline prices increased 76.4 percent, the largest 12-month rate of increase since a 78.0-percent gain in May 1980.

Prices for finished consumer foods increased 0.9 percent during 1999, after edging up 0.1 percent during the 12 months ended December 1998. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy also rose 0.9 percent in 1999, following a 2.5-percent gain in 1998.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in Producer Price Indexes, December 1999, news release USDL 00-11. 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.