December 15, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI down in November

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.3 percent in November. This decrease followed five consecutive increases—including a 0.8-percent rise in October and a 0.3-percent increase in September.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among finished goods, prices for finished consumer foods fell 0.3 percent in November, following a 2.2–percent jump in October. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy also turned down—inching 0.1 percent lower in November, after rising 0.5 percent in the prior month. Prices for finished energy goods decreased 1.2 percent, compared with a 0.1-percent decline in the previous month.

From November 2002 to November 2003, finished goods prices advanced 3.4 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in "Producer Price Indexes -- November 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03–885. 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.