January 16, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices unchanged in December

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods showed no change in December, seasonally adjusted. This followed a 0.4-percent decline in November and a 1.1-percent advance in October.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among finished goods, the index for finished goods other than foods and energy declined 0.3 percent in December, the same as in November. The decline in December largely reflected falling prices for passenger cars and light trucks.

When prices for passenger cars and light trucks are excluded, the index for finished goods other than foods and energy edged down 0.1 percent. Prices for finished energy goods, on the other hand, increased 0.9 percent, following a 1.8-percent decrease in November. Finished consumer food prices rose 0.4 percent in December, compared with a 0.3-percent gain a month earlier.

From December 2001 to December 2002, finished goods prices rose 1.2 percent, after declining 1.6 percent during 2001.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in  "Producer Price Indexes, December 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03–14. 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.