November 17, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI rising at an annual rate of 2.9 percent through October

For the first 10 months of 1999, the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods increased at a 2.9-percent seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), after showing no change for the 1998 calendar year.

[Chart data—TXT]

Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy rose at a 0.9-percent SAAR for the first 10 months of 1999, after posting a 2.5-percent gain in the previous calendar year.

The index for intermediate goods increased at a 4.0-percent SAAR from December 1998 to October 1999, following a 3.3-percent decline during the 1998 calendar year. Prices for crude goods advanced at a 19.4-percent SAAR during the first 10 months of 1999, after a 16.7-percent decrease during all of 1998.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in Producer Price Indexes, October 1999, news release USDL 99-319. 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.