January 16, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices hold steady in December

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods showed no change in December, seasonally adjusted. This followed a 0.1-percent increase in November and a 0.4-percent advance in October.

[Chart data—TXT]

The index for finished goods other than foods and energy rose 0.3 percent in December, after showing no change in the previous month. Prices received by producers of intermediate goods gained 0.2 percent, following a similar decline in the prior month. The crude goods index jumped 8.7 percent, after posting a 2.0-percent decrease in November.

From December 1999 to December 2000, finished goods prices advanced 3.6 percent, after rising 2.9 percent during 1999.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in the "Producer Price Indexes, December 2000", news release USDL 01-14. 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.