Economy
November 19, 2014
Producer Price Indexes of Sheet Steel, Aluminum, Plastic and Transportation - October 2014
Written by Peter Wright
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Tuesday reported October results. We run this analysis every three months to give readers an opportunity to become aware of any changes in the competitive position of steel against other materials and rail vs truck transportation. See below for the official description of this program.
The October report from the BLS began as follows: The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.2 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This increase followed a 0.1-percent decline in September and no change in August. On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand advanced 1.5 percent for the 12 months ended in October, the smallest 12-month increase since a 1.2-percent rise in February 2014. In October, the 0.2-percent rise in final demand prices can be traced to the index for final demand services, which advanced 0.5 percent. In contrast, prices for final demand goods moved down 0.4 percent. Within intermediate demand, prices for processed goods declined 0.9 percent, the index for unprocessed goods fell 2.4 percent, and prices for services inched up 0.1 percent.
