January 16, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Producer prices in December 2007

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.1 percent in December, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed a 3.2-percent rise in November and a 0.1-percent advance in October.

Percent change from 12 months ago, Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, not seasonally adjusted, December 1998-December 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

The downturn in prices for finished goods was led by the index for energy goods, which dropped 1.9 percent in December after climbing 14.1 percent in November. 

Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy rose 0.2 percent in December compared with a 0.4-percent advance in the preceding month. By contrast, prices for finished consumer foods increased 1.3 percent following no change in November.

From December 2006 to December 2007, prices for finished goods rose 6.3 percent, as seen in the chart. In comparison, there was a 1.1-percent advance between December 2005 and December 2006.

The faster rate of increase in 2007 is attributable to food and energy prices. The index for finished energy goods surged 18.4 percent in 2007 after falling 2.0 percent a year earlier, and prices for finished consumer foods jumped 7.4 percent following a 1.7-percent rise in 2006.

The index for finished goods other than foods and energy advanced 2.0 percent in 2007, the same as in the preceding year.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — December 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 08-0061. 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.

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