January 16, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI falls again in December 2008

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 1.9 percent in December, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed a 2.2-percent decline in November and a 2.8-percent drop in October.

Percent change from 12 months ago, Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, not seasonally adjusted, December 1999-December 2008
[Chart data—TXT]

The index for finished energy goods fell 9.3 percent in December after decreasing 11.2 percent in November. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy increased 0.2 percent in December after edging up 0.1 percent in November.

The index for finished consumer foods declined 1.5 percent in December after no change in November.

From December 2007 to December 2008, prices for finished goods declined 0.9 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — December 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0034. 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.