March 18, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI in February 2009

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.1 percent in February, seasonally adjusted. This rise followed a 0.8-percent increase in January and a 1.9-percent decline in December.

Percent change from 12 months ago, Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, not seasonally adjusted, February 2000-February 2009
[Chart data—TXT]

The slower rate of increase in finished goods prices was led by the index for energy goods, which rose 1.3 percent in February after climbing 3.7 percent in the preceding month.

The index for consumer foods fell 1.6 percent in February following a 0.4-percent decrease a month earlier. Following a 0.4-percent increase in January, the index for finished goods less foods and energy climbed 0.2 percent in February.

From February 2008 to February 2009, prices for finished goods declined 1.3 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — February 2009," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0267. 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.