Wholesale prices jump (new UE claims at 353,000)

[papau]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/22/news/economy/ppi.reut/index.htm

Wholesale prices jump

Big gains in food, energy costs drive producer price index higher than forecasts in March.
April 22, 2004: 8:38 AM EDT


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A big jump in food prices helped push U.S. wholesale prices sharply higher last month, the government said Thursday in a report likely to sustain budding inflation worries.

The Producer Price Index, which measures prices paid to farms, factories and refineries, climbed 0.5 percent in March, the Labor Department said. Excluding at-times volatile food and energy costs, the so-called core PPI advanced a milder 0.2 percent.

Wall Street economists had expected a 0.3 percent rise in overall producer prices, with core prices up a mild 0.1 percent.<snip>

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm
April 22, 2004 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 353,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 362,000. The 4-week moving average was 347,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 344,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending April 10, unchanged from the priorweek's unrevised rate of 2.4 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 10 was 3,019,000, an increase of 52,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,967,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,008,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,010,000.


UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 332,775 in the week ending April 17, a decrease of 17,653 from the previous week. There were 399,180 initial claims in the comparable week in 2003.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending April 10, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,157,601, an increase of 45,356 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.0 percent and the volume was 3,736,748.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm
Producer Price Index News Release APRIL 22, 2004
Producer Price Indexes -- March 2004

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.5 percent in
March, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This increase followed a 0.1-percent gain in February and a 0.6-percent rise in January. At the earlier stages of processing, prices for both intermediate goods and crude goods moved up 0.7 percent in March, after increasing 0.9 and 2.5 percent, respectively,in the prior month. (See table A.)

Table A. Monthly and annual percent changes in selected stage-of-processing price indexes, seasonally adjusted
______________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | |
| | Finished goods | | |
| | | | |
| |---------------------------------------------------------| | |
| | | | | | Change in | | |
| | | | | Except |finished goods| Inter- | |
| | | | |foods and|from 12 months| mediate | Crude |
| Month | Total | Foods | Energy | energy | ago(unadj.) | goods | goods |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
2003
Mar. 1.3 0.3 4.8 0.6 4.0 2.1 13.2
-2-

During the first quarter of 2004, prices for finished goods advanced
at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 percent, after rising at a 2.8- percent rate during the final three months of 2003. Excluding prices forfoods and energy, the finished goods index increased at a 2.1-percentseasonally adjusted annual rate for the three months ended March 2004,following a 1.3-percent rate of increase in the last quarter of 2003.Among prices for raw and partially processed goods, the seasonally adjustedannual rate of increase for intermediate goods prices accelerated from 2.7
percent to 10.1 percent from the final quarter of 2003 to the first quarterof 2004. The crude goods index moved up at a 26.3-percent seasonallyadjusted annual rate during the first quarter of 2004, after advancing at a23.6-percent rate in the last three months of 2003.

Intermediate goods

The Producer Price Index for Intermediate Materials, Supplies, and
Components increased 0.7 percent in March, after rising 0.9 percent inFebruary. The indexes for durable manufacturing materials, nondurablemanufacturing materials, and intermediate energy goods rose less in Marchthan they did in February. Conversely, prices for intermediate foodstuffsand feedstuffs advanced more quickly than they did in the preceding month.The index for materials and components for construction increased at thesame rate in March as it did in February. The index for intermediate goodsother than foods and energy moved up 0.6 percent, after gaining 0.9 percent in February. (See table B.)

Subsequent to a 3.5-percent climb in February, the index for materialsfor durable manufacturing rose 2.0 percent. Prices for cold rolled steelsheet and strip increased 3.0 percent, after a 12.4-percent advance inFebruary. Likewise, the indexes for building paper and board, primaryaluminum (except extrusion billet), plywood, and semifinished steel millproducts rose more slowly in March than they did in the previous month.Aluminum mill shape prices fell, after rising in February. By contrast,prices for prepared paint increased 0.4 percent, after a 0.3-percentdecline in the preceding month. The indexes for unprocessed filament yarnsand textile bags turned up in March, while the index for copper cathode andrefined copper rose at a quicker pace than it did in the prior month.Prices for materials for durable manufacturing advanced at a 29.7-percent
seasonally adjusted annual rate from December 2003 to March 2004, afterregistering an 8.7-percent rate of increase during the previous threemonths.

*****
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has not scheduled a revised release date forthe April 2004 PPI, originally scheduled for Thursday, May 13. If apostponement is necessary, it will be announced at least one day ahead oftime on the BLS website and through a news advisory.

[metisnation]

1. How is this not inflation

alan greenscum is a nazi.

[Joanne98]

2. The lying criminal Elaine Chao needs time to cook the books.

I hate that witch.

[On the Road]

3. This is Getting Close to Double-Digit Annuals for the PPI

The Producer Price Index for Intermediate Materials, Supplies, and
Components increased 0.7 percent in March, after rising 0.9 percent in February.

No way that can be absorbed forever by reduced profits and increased productivity. There's often a single commodity that has a price spike, but these trends seem to be across the board.

[Robbien]

5. What! This is an Oh by the way comment?

The PPI for intermediate goods was 0.9% in February! And another 0.7% in March! Add those numbers to the 0.8% in January and we have a 2.4% increase for the quarter, or a 9.6% annualized.

Prices increased an annualized 9.6%. How is that not a headline?

[On the Road]

6. It's Amazing It's Not All Over the Papers

The PPI only represents a segment of all prices -- but it's a significant part. And it's a leading measure, because eventually the increases will have to be passed on to the consumer.

Dan Spillane had a link to a nongovernment measure of producer prices which showed a 12-month increase of 40%. Sounds high, but it's got to be more than the official figure.

In fact, I can't understand what they include in that consumer inflation numbers to make the numbers come out so low. Gasoline, rent, college, health care, anything from Home Depot, certain food categories, you name it. I would love to see a numbers scandal in the federal government before the election.

[mbperrin]

7. It's not too high....milk here in West Texas was

$2.86 in December - now $4.42; gasoline was $1.24, now $1.79; 7/16" OSB decking was $6.99 - now $17.99; electric for 1400 kw in December - $110; for 1320 kw last month $180.

I think the 40% is probably low...

[On the Road]

8. The Things That Go Up the most are The Things That Jump Out at Us

I would expect the average to be well below those items. There are a lot of prices that are stable.

But these low single-digit numbers for consumer inflation? I just can't imagine what products are being selected for the basket of consumer goods or how those products are weighted. They must be leaving out some very heavy stuff.

[xchrom]

4. quick -- somebody call the spinmeisters!

make sure to turn that bad news into good news quick!
it's a good thing americans don't know how to pay attention.