Eye On Housing
Prices received for four key building materials (prior to sales to consumers)—softwood lumber, OSB, gypsum products, and ready-mix concrete—all fell in October according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSB prices declined 0.5% in October, ending a 7-month trend that had made the commodity the most expensive it had been in over… Read More ›
Inflation in prices received by producers (prior to sales to consumers) held steady in August after a striking 0.4% decline in July. The flat reading was the result of a 0.1% increase in prices for services combined with a 0.4% drop in goods prices, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (more weight is… Read More ›
Inflation in prices received by producers (prior to sales to consumers) increased 0.5% in June according to the latest Producer Price Index release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase was driven by a 0.4% increase in the price of services, while the final demand index for goods rose 0.8% (the price of services is weighted roughly double the… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for March. Overall producer price increases have been relatively modest but prices for some building materials have soared in the last year. The PPI for finished goods decreased 0.6% in March from February (seasonally adjusted) based on declines in energy prices, and prices are up 1.1% from one… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for January. Energy prices continued their recent decline, the index for finished goods was pushed up modestly by an increase in the price of food goods, while core prices (i.e., excluding food and energy) rose by 0.2%, the average over the last year. But the prices for certain… Read More ›
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for November. Once again energy prices are the main driver. The PPI for finished goods declined 0.8%, led by a 4.6% decline in the energy index. Core producer prices (i.e., excluding food and energy) rose 0.1%. Historically, core prices have been relatively stable, averaging monthly increases of 0.2%,… Read More ›