Courtesy of Mish.
The BLS reports PPI for Final Demand is Unchanged in August. Services rise 0.1% and goods decline 0.4%.
Diving into the report we see services are up thanks to a hefty increase in Obamacare. Goods took a huge dip.
Final demand services: The index for final demand services edged up 0.1 percent in August following a 0.3-percent decline in July. The advance can be traced to prices for final demand services less trade, transportation, and warehousing, which increased 0.5 percent. In contrast, the index for final demand trade services fell 0.6 percent. (Trade indexes measure changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers.) Prices for final demand transportation and warehousing services moved down 0.4 percent.
Product detail: Within the index for final demand services in August, prices for outpatient care (partial) advanced 0.5 percent. The indexes for apparel, jewelry, footwear, and accessories retailing; guestroom rental; portfolio management; and residential real estate services (partial) also moved higher. Conversely, margins for machinery and equipment wholesaling decreased 2.9 percent. The indexes for chemicals and allied products wholesaling, services related to securities brokerage and dealing, and airline passenger services also declined.
Final demand goods: The index for final demand goods fell 0.4 percent in August, the same as in July. Eighty percent of the August decrease can be traced to a 1.6-percent drop in prices for final demand foods. Also contributing to the decline in the index for final demand goods, prices for final demand energy moved down 0.8 percent. In contrast, the index for final demand goods less foods and energy inched up 0.1 percent.
Product detail: Thirty percent of the August decrease in the index for final demand goods is attributable to a 3.6-percent drop in prices for meats. The indexes for gasoline, fresh and dry vegetables, jet fuel, chicken eggs, and diesel fuel also fell. Conversely, prices for pharmaceutical preparations increased 1.0 percent. The indexes for electric power and natural, processed, and imitation cheese also rose.
PPI What’s Rising, What’s Not
PPI Final Demand Year-Over Year and Month-Over-Month
Econoday Spin
The Econoday inflation-proponent robot was back in form on this report.
