Recent Updates
- ** India's RBI Effective XR have rebased from 2004-05=100 to 2015-16=100. We are currently working on these changes. **
- Indonesia: CPI, WPI (Feb)
- Japan: Market Capitalization (Feb)
- Korea: Passenger Car Trade (Q4), MOTIE Trade (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Chicago Business Barometer Declines Sharply in February
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February to 59.5...
Goods Trade Deficit Widened Slightly in January
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened slightly to $83.74 billion in January..
Japan's Industrial Sector Mounts a Comeback
Japan's IP surged in January gaining 4.3% compared to December...
Aircraft Orders Boost U.S. Durable Goods Orders in January
Manufacturers' orders for durable goods increased a much larger-than-expected 3.4% m/m (4.5% y/y) in January...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Increases Again in February
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index rose to 24 in February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller May 17, 2005
The Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 0.6% last month and again surpassed Consensus expectations which had been for a 0.4% increase. Excluding food & energy the PPI rose 0.3% in April, up sharply from the 0.1% gains during the prior two month's and also beat Consensus expectations for a 0.2% increase.
Prices for finished consumer goods less food & energy rose 0.2% (2.6% y/y), up from a 0.1% increase in March. Consumer durable goods prices increased 0.3% (1.9% y/y) following two months of decline as household appliance prices rose (2.0% y/y) along with furniture prices (3.8% y/y).
Capital goods prices increased for the second month (2.8% y/y) though computer prices continued to fall (-18.7% y/y) as did prices for light trucks (-0.5% y/y).
Finished energy prices jumped for the third consecutive month. The 2.1% (15.7% y/y) increase was led by higher prices for gasoline (28.9% y/y) and fuel oil (51.1% y/y). Finished food prices ticked up 0.1% (2.5% y/y) last month.
Intermediate goods prices again were strong, posting a 0.8% advance which reflected a 3.4% (18.8% y/y) spike in energy prices but the 0.2% monthly increase in core intermediate prices was the most moderate since 2003.
Crude prices surged another 2.7% again on the strength of energy prices, up 7.2% (32.6% y/y). The 0.8% gain in core crude prices was the second month of strength and reflected a 17.1% y/y gain in copper scrap, an 8.3% y/y increase in aluminum scrap and a 4.3% y/y rise in iron & steel scrap. During the last thirty years "core" crude prices have been a fair indicator of industrial sector activity with a 48% correlation between the six month change in core crude prices and the change in factory sector industrial production.
Producer Price Index | April | March | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finished Goods | 0.6% | 0.7% | 4.8% | 3.6% | 3.2% | -1.3% |
Core | 0.3% | 0.1% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
Intermediate Goods | 0.8% | 1.0% | 8.2% | 6.6% | 4.6% | -1.5% |
Core | 0.2% | 0.3% | 6.6% | 5.7% | 2.0% | -0.5% |
Crude Goods | 2.7% | 4.3% | 11.8% | 17.5% | 25.1% | -10.6% |
Core | 0.8% | 1.0% | 8.4% | 26.6% | 12.4% | 3.8% |