Eye On Housing
After a period of significant increases, the growth in the prices of building materials has slowed according to June Producer Price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Year-over-year growth in gypsum prices slowed by 3.8 percentage points to 15.6%. Annual softwood lumber price growth decelerated by 8.7 percentage points to 8.0%. And Oriented Strand Board (OSB) prices grew… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘prices’
Producer Prices in February – Building Materials Prices Continue to Outpace the Rest
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for February. Energy prices, rising 3.0% based largely on gasoline prices, pushed the overall index up 0.7%. Food prices declined 0.5% while the core price index (i.e., excluding food and energy) was stable, rising 0.2% since last month. While overall producer prices have been relatively stable, the prices… Read More ›
Headline Inflation Slows, but Core Inflation Accelerates
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U), a measure of inflation, slowed in the month of October to 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis. In August and September, the same measure rose by 0.6% per month. The deceleration in the CPI-U largely reflects a 0.2% decline in energy prices from 5.6% growth… Read More ›
Sharp Decline in Energy Prices Pushes CPI Lower
Today’s release for the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) showed a 0.3% decline between April and May 2012. The energy index accounted for most of the drag on topline CPI last month, falling an additional 4.3% after a 1.7% drop in April. The latest decline represented the largest percentage contraction in the energy index since December 2008—a… Read More ›
Producer Prices in February – Higher Prices for Gypsum
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for February last week (PPI). The PPI for finished goods rose 0.4 percent in February from January on a seasonally adjusted basis. Excluding food and energy, the core index for finished goods rose 0.2 percent. The monthly data can be volatile, but these growth rates are roughly in… Read More ›
Surging Gasoline Prices Boost Overall CPI in March
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) jumped 0.4% on a month-to-month basis during February 2012. Although the core and food CPI indices registered very modest gains, energy prices increased 3.2% and accounted for the vast majority of last month’s gain in the overall CPI. In fact, had natural gas prices not posted their fifth consecutive month-to-month decline,… Read More ›
Producer Prices in January – Watch Gypsum
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for January on Thursday. The index for finished goods rose 0.1 percent in January from December, balancing a 0.4 percent increase in the core index and declines in the food (-0.3 percent) and energy (-0.5 percent) indexes, keeping the overall index in line with its relatively flat trajectory… Read More ›
CPI Holds Steady while Real Rents Notch Third Consecutive Monthly Increase
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) remained unchanged for the second month in a row. An easing in prices across much of the energy commodities complex weighed on topline CPI growth throughout the fourth quarter of 2011, offsetting the gains in the core (all items less food and energy) and food… Read More ›
House Prices Remain Stable in October
House prices remained steady in October, with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reporting a slight 0.2% (SA) decrease in the monthly purchase-only house price index (HPI). This follows a revised 0.4% increase in September. Despite some minor month-over-month variability, the index has exhibited a slight upward trend since April. The decline following the expiry of the homebuyer tax credit… Read More ›
Residential Building Material Prices Show Modest Decline in November, But Pressure is Building for Sharp Increase in the New Year
Producer prices bounced back in November after easing the previous month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the producer price index for finished goods (PPI) advanced 0.3%, seasonally adjusted, in November on the back of a jump in food prices. Modest changes were observed for the energy and core indexes as both recorded a 0.1% increase. The finished goods index… Read More ›