PPI data: double digit declines continue

The above chart reflects the latest data from the Producer Price Index (PPI) report, released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

A key takeaway: double-digit-percentage declines year over year in prices for softwood lumber (-18.0 percent), hardwood lumber (-16.4 percent) and plywood (-14.4 percent). 

Those numbers were similar to last month, when the three commodities also showed double-digit percentage declines (hardwood, -17.5 percent; softwood, -17.3 percent; and plywood, -15.1%)

The charts were extracted from the tables called “Producer price index percent changes for selected commodity groupings by Final Demand - Intermediate Demand category, seasonally adjusted.”

Over all, the Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.7 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, after rising 0.4 percent in July.

The August advance is the largest increase in final demand prices since moving up 0.9 percent in June 2022. On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand rose 1.6 percent for the 12 months ended in August.

In August, 80 percent of the rise in final demand prices is attributable to a 2.0-percent jump in  the index for final demand goods. Prices for final demand services advanced 0.2 percent.

The index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services increased 0.3 percent in August, the same as in July. For the 12 months ended in August, prices for final demand less  foods, energy, and trade services rose 3.0 percent, the largest advance since moving up 3.4 percent for the 12 months ended in April.

For all of the data, visit here.