The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that its Producer Price Index for Finished Goods decreased 0.4% in September, seasonally adjusted, following a 0.9% drop in August and a 1.2%.
The decline in producer prices was led primarily by a decrease in the energy index, which dropped 2.9% in September following a 4.6% decline in August. Still, the effects of the spike in energy prices earlier this year is evident in the index for finished goods less foods and energy, which rose 0.4% and in the index for finished consumer foods, which rose 0.2%.
At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by producers of intermediate goods fell 1.2% after decreasing 1.0% a month earlier, and the decline in the crude goods index slowed to 7.9% in September from 11.9% in the preceding month.
Prices for construction materials and components, however, continued climbing, with the index up 0.7% in September following a 1.5% gain in the prior month. Prices for paving mixtures and blocks moved up 3.1% after advancing 9.6% in August. Prices for ready mixed concrete advanced 1.4% after moving down 0.3% in August.
The index for materials and components for construction climbed at a 16.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate for the three months ended in September after moving up at a 19.5% rate for the three months ended in June.
