Press Release - PRODUCER PRICE INDEXES – AUGUST 2016
The Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged in August, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices declined 0.4 percent in July and rose 0.5 percent in June. On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index was unchanged for the 12 months ended in August. (See table A.)
In August, a 0.1-percent advance in the index for final demand services offset a 0.4-percent decrease in prices for final demand goods. Prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services increased 0.3 percent in August after no change in July. For the 12 months ended in August, the index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 1.2 percent, the largest rise since climbing 1.3 percent for the 12 months ended December 2014.
Final Demand
Final demand services: The index for final demand services edged up 0.1 percent in August following a 0.3-percent decline in July. The advance can be traced to prices for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing, which increased 0.5 percent. In contrast, the index for final demand trade services fell 0.6 percent. (Trade indexes measure changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers.) Prices for final demand transportation and warehousing services moved down 0.4 percent.
Product detail: Within the index for final demand services in August, prices for outpatient care (partial) advanced 0.5 percent. The indexes for apparel, jewelry, footwear, and accessories retailing; guestroom rental; portfolio management; and residential real estate services (partial) also moved higher. Conversely, margins for machinery and equipment wholesaling decreased 2.9 percent. The indexes for chemicals and allied products wholesaling, services related to securities brokerage and dealing, and airline passenger services also declined. (See table 4.)
Final demand goods: The index for final demand goods fell 0.4 percent in August, the same as in July. Eighty percent of the August decrease can be traced to a 1.6-percent drop in prices for final demand foods. Also contributing to the decline in the index for final demand goods, prices for final demand energy moved down 0.8 percent. In contrast, the index for final demand goods less foods and energy inched up 0.1 percent.
Product detail: Thirty percent of the August decrease in the index for final demand goods is attributable to a 3.6-percent drop in prices for meats. The indexes for gasoline, fresh and dry vegetables, jet fuel, chicken eggs, and diesel fuel also fell. Conversely, prices for pharmaceutical preparations increased 1.0 percent. The indexes for electric power and natural, processed, and imitation cheese also rose.
page source http://www.bls.gov/
