October 16, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer Price Index down again in September 2008

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods decreased 0.4 percent in September, seasonally adjusted. This decline followed a 0.9-percent drop in August and a 1.2-percent increase in July. The slower rate of decline in finished goods prices was led by the index for energy goods, which decreased 2.9 percent after falling 4.6 percent in August.

[Chart data—TXT]

Price advances for finished goods less foods and energy accelerated to 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent a month earlier. The rise in the index for finished consumer foods slowed to 0.2 percent in September from 0.3 percent in the prior month.

During the third quarter of 2008, the finished goods index fell at a 0.4-percent seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), after climbing at a 14.6-percent SAAR during the second quarter. Much of this downturn can be attributed to the index for finished energy goods, which decreased at a 16.7-percent SAAR for the 3 months ended in September after jumping at a 51.6-percent SAAR for the 3 months ended in June.

From September 2007 to September 2008, prices for finished goods rose 8.7 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — September 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1456. 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.