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Producer Price Index unch% in November, ex Fd & Engy unch%
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The Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged in November, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices increased 0.4 percent in October and fell 0.3 percent in September. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index advanced 1.1 percent for the 12 months ended in November.
In November, a 0.3-percent rise in prices for final demand goods offset a 0.3-percent decrease in the index for final demand services.
The index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services was unchanged in November after inching up 0.1 percent in October. For the 12 months ended in November, prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 1.3 percent, the smallest advance since climbing 1.3 percent in the 12 months ended September 2016.
Final Demand
Final demand goods: The index for final demand goods increased 0.3 percent in November following a 0.7-percent advance in October. Half of the broad-based rise in November is attributable to a 1.1-percent advance in prices for final demand foods. The indexes for final demand energy and for final demand goods less foods and energy moved up 0.6 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Product detail: A major factor in the increase in prices for final demand goods was the index for meats, which climbed 3.9 percent. Prices for gasoline, chicken eggs, diesel fuel, fresh and dry vegetables, and tobacco products also moved higher. In contrast, the index for residential electric power fell 0.6 percent. Prices for unprocessed finfish and industrial chemicals also declined. (See table 4.)
Final demand services: The index for final demand services moved down 0.3 percent in November, the largest decrease since falling 0.3 percent in February 2017. Over two-thirds of the broad-based decline in November can be traced to margins for final demand trade services, which decreased 0.6 percent. (Trade indexes measure changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers.) Prices for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing and for final demand transportation and warehousing services fell 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
Product detail: Margins for food wholesaling, which dropped 5.0 percent, were a major factor in the November decline in prices for final demand services. The indexes for hospital outpatient care; machinery and vehicle wholesaling; airline passenger services; professional and commercial equipment wholesaling; and securities brokerage, dealing, investment advice, and related services also moved lower. Conversely, prices for traveler accommodation services increased 2.6 percent. The indexes for machinery and equipment parts and supplies wholesaling and for long-distance motor carrying also rose.
Posted: December 12, 2019 Thursday 08:30 AM