Producer prices for finished goods, August 2011

September 19, 2011

From July to August, the Producer Price Index for finished goods was unchanged (seasonally adjusted), as a 1.1-percent increase in finished consumer foods prices and a 0.1-percent advance in the index for finished goods less foods and energy offset a 1.0-percent decrease in prices for finished energy goods.

[Chart data]

From July to August, over thirty percent of the advance in the index for finished consumer foods can be traced to meat prices, which climbed 2.4 percent. Higher prices for processed poultry and eggs for fresh use also were major factors in the increase in the finished foods index.

Over twenty percent of the increase in the index for finished goods less foods and energy from July to August is attributable to the index for tires, which climbed 1.4 percent. Higher prices for radio and television communication equipment also contributed to the rise in the finished core index.

From July to August, over half of the decline in the index for finished energy goods is due to a 6.0-percent drop in prices for liquefied petroleum gas. Lower prices for gasoline and diesel fuel also were significant factors in the decrease in the finished energy goods index.

These data are from the BLS Producer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Producer Price Indexes — August 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-1326. 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.