Wholesale Prices Rise 0.3% in February

 

Wholesale prices rose 0.3 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. This increase followed a 1.0-percent advance in January and a 0.3-percent decline in December. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods moved up 0.8 percent in February subsequent to a 1.4-percent advance in January, and the crude goods index rose 3.7 percent after climbing 2.5 percent in the prior month.

Within finished goods, the index for energy goods increased 0.8 percent in February compared with a 1.5-percent gain in the previous month. Prices for consumer foods declined 0.5 percent following a 1.7-percent rise in January. By contrast, slightly counteracting the deceleration in finished goods prices, the index for finished goods other than foods and energy moved up 0.5 percent in February after increasing 0.4 percent a month earlier.

 

 

Before seasonal adjustment, the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods increased 0.2 percent in February to 172.2 (1982 = 100). From February 2007 to February 2008, finished goods prices advanced 6.4 percent. Over the same period, the index for finished energy goods increased 19.6 percent, prices for finished consumer foods rose 6.0 percent, and the index for finished goods other than foods and energy climbed 2.4 percent. For the 12 months ended February 2008, prices received by intermediate goods producers increased 8.8 percent, and the crude goods index surged 24.6 percent.

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