August 15, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI in July 2007

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.6 percent in July, seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a 0.2-percent decline in June and a 0.9-percent rise in May.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among prices for finished goods, the index for energy goods rose 2.5 percent in July following a 1.1-percent decrease in June. Leading this upturn, prices for gasoline advanced 3.2 percent following a 3.9-percent decline in the previous month.

Prices for finished consumer foods inched down 0.1 percent in July after declining 0.8 percent in the previous month. The index for fresh fruits and melons decreased 10.2 percent subsequent to a 14.9-percent decline a month earlier.

The increase in the index for finished goods other than foods and energy slowed to 0.1 percent in July from 0.3 percent in June. Prices for passenger cars moved up 0.2 percent subsequent to a 1.4-percent gain in June. The indexes for alcoholic beverages, civilian aircraft, and household furniture turned down in July.

From July 2006 to July 2007, prices for finished goods rose 4.0 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — July 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-1241. 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.