November 19, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

PPI in October 2008

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 2.8 percent in October, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed a 0.4-percent decline in September and a 0.9-percent fall in August.

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

Among finished goods in October, prices for energy goods fell 12.8 percent compared with a 2.9-percent decline a month earlier. The index for consumer foods edged down 0.2 percent following a 0.2-percent increase in the prior month.

Prices for goods other than foods and energy rose 0.4 percent for the second consecutive month.

From October 2007 to October 2008, prices for finished goods rose 5.2 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — October 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1711. 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.