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| April Producer Prices (#1) - May. 16, 2006 |
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Summary
The Labor Department reported this morning that the Producer Price Index rose 0.9% during April. This compared with March's reported increase of 0.5%.
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* Earlier this morning, the Labor Department reported that the Producer Price Index rose 0.9%% during April, which compared with a 0.5% increase in March.
* The April increase was led by a 4.0% jump in energy prices. This followed a 1.8% rise in this sector in March, and a reported 4.7% decline in February.
* According to the Labor Department, food prices rose only 0.1% in April, well below the 0.5% increase reported for March, and the reported 2.7% decline in February.
* Excluding food and energy -- the so-called "core" rate, a foolish measure designed purposely to mislead -- the PPI was up 0.1% during April. This compared with the same 0.1% rise reported for March.
* The consensus forecast for the overall PPI came in around 0.8%, while the estimate for core results was 0.2%.
* For the 12 months ended April 2006, the overall PPI stood 4.0% higher than a year earlier. For the 12 months ended April 2005, this figure was +4.7%.
* The 12-month change in the PPI's core rate as of April 2006 was 1.5%, which compared with a 2.7% gain for the 12 months ended April 2005. This comparison will be the cause celebre on Tout TV and in the other venues in the regular propaganda loop.
Tomorrow, the Labor Department releases consumer price data for April. This is the third and last of the government inflation series we follow closely each month (import prices, PPI and CPI). After the CPI's release, I will publish a more detailed statistical analysis of all three measures, as well as updating the "Inflation Watch" graph on the home page of the GRA website.
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