January 15, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI rises in December

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 0.3 percent in December, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a 0.3-percent decline in November and a 0.8-percent advance in October.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among finished goods, prices for finished energy goods advanced 1.8 percent in December, after decreasing 1.2 percent a month earlier. The index for finished consumer foods rose 0.2 percent, compared with a 0.3-percent decline in the prior month. On the other hand, the index for finished goods other than foods and energy inched down 0.1 percent in December, the same as in November.

From December 2002 to December 2003, finished goods prices advanced 4.0 percent, as shown in the chart. Finished consumer food prices turned up 7.7 percent in 2003, as opposed to slipping 0.6 percent in the prior year. A 1.0-percent increase in the index for finished goods other than foods and energy in 2003 followed a 0.5-percent dip in 2002. By contrast, the index for finished energy goods advanced 11.5 percent in 2003, following a 12.3-percent rise in the previous calendar year.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in "Producer Price Indexes -- December 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-28. 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.