Sources: bls.gov and Bloomberg news
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today that the Producer Price Index (PPI for Finished Goods) rose 0.7% in October. Manufacturers of intermediate goods were hit with a 3.0% increase in pre-processing prices, after increasing 2.5% in the preceding month.
Excluding energy and food, wholesale prices, in general declined by the most in more than two years, reflecting cheaper cars, computers and clothes.
The gain in the PPI, which measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output, reflects increased costs for natural gas and heating oil, the Labor Department said. The slight upswing in the October PPI, followed a 1.9-percent jump in September and a 0.6-percent rise in August. The index for crude materials rose 6.7 percent in October, compared with a 10.2-percent gain in September.
For manufacturers, prices for materials for durable manufacturing advanced 2.0 percent in October, following a 2.6-percent gain a month earlier. The hot rolled steel sheet and strip index increased 4.0 percent, after rising 9.4 percent in September. Prices for aluminum mill shapes, semifinished steel mill products, plywood, and cold finished steel bars also rose less in October than they had in the preceding month. The index for titanium mill shapes turned down, after increasing in the previous month. Conversely, prices for primary nonferrous metals advanced 6.6 percent in October, subsequent to a 1.8-percent rise in the prior month. The index for cold rolled steel sheet and strip turned up, after declining a month earlier.
