May 13, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices down slightly in April

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.2 percent in April, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed a 1.0-percent increase in March and a 0.2-percent rise in February.

[Chart data—TXT]

The index for finished goods other than foods and energy rose 0.1 percent, the same rate of increase as in March. Prices for intermediate goods moved up 0.9 percent in April, following a 1.0-percent advance in March. The crude goods index rose 5.5 percent in April, after increasing 4.0 percent in the previous month. 

From April 2001 to April 2002, the finished goods index decreased 2.0 percent.

These data are a product of the BLS Producer Price Index program. Find out more in the "Producer Price Indexes, April 2002", news release USDL 02-263. 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.