March 17, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices rise again in February

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods climbed 1.0 percent in February, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a 1.6-percent advance in January and a 0.1-percent decline in December.

[Chart data—TXT]

Much of the February increase in the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods was due to prices for finished energy goods, which moved up 7.4 percent compared with a 4.8-percent gain in January. Excluding prices for energy goods, the finished goods index decreased 0.3 percent in February. The finished consumer foods index increased 0.6 percent in February, after posting a 1.6-percent gain in the prior month. By contrast, the index for finished goods other than foods and energy turned down 0.5 percent, following a 0.9-percent increase in January. The February decline was largely due to the decrease in the light motor trucks index.

From February 2002 to February 2003, prices for finished goods rose 3.5 percent. This increase was due to a 24.8-percent jump in the index for finished energy goods. Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy inched up 0.1 percent over the 12 months ended February 2003, while the index for finished consumer foods showed no change.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program.  Find out more in "Producer Price Indexes, February 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03–125.  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.