Chart: 12-month percentage change in Producer Price Index
On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods advanced 5.5 percent for the 12 months ended April 2010, their sixth consecutive 12-month increase. This is according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For the 12 months ended April 2010, prices for finished consumer foods increased 4.9 percent; for finished energy goods, 20.8 percent; and for finished goods less foods and energy, 1.0 percent.
Over the month, the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods declined 0.1 percent in April, seasonally adjusted. This decrease followed a 0.7-percent advance in March and a 0.6-percent decrease in February. The decline in the index for finished goods can be attributed to lower prices for energy goods, which fell 0.8 percent. Also contributing to lower finished goods prices, the index for finished consumer foods moved down 0.2 percent.
This data is from the BLS Producer Price Index program. See "Producer Price Indexes — April 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0684, for more information. All producer price indexes are routinely subject to revision once, four months after original publication, to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents.