October 22, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
PPI in September 2009
On an unadjusted basis, from September 2008 to September 2009, the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 4.8 percent, the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
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The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.6 percent in September, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed a 1.7-percent rise in August and a 0.9-percent decline in July.
In September, over ninety percent of the finished goods decrease was the result of lower energy prices. The indexes for finished goods less foods and energy and for finished consumer foods also contributed to the decline in finished goods prices, both edging down 0.1 percent.
The index for finished energy goods fell 2.4 percent in September, compared with an 8.0-percent surge a month earlier. Almost eighty percent of the decrease can be attributed to gasoline prices, which moved down 5.4 percent. Falling prices for home heating oil and residential natural gas also contributed to the decline in the finished energy goods index.
Prices for finished goods less foods and energy edged down 0.1 percent in September following a 0.2-percent increase in August. Leading the decline, the index for light motor trucks moved down 1.4 percent.
Prices for finished consumer foods inched down 0.1 percent in September after rising 0.4 percent in August. The index for eggs for fresh use, which declined 9.8 percent, led the decrease in finished consumer food prices.
These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. For more information, see "Producer Price Indexes — September 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-1269. 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.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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