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This week we have a brand new blog post, the second in a series describing some of the new features added to Stock Rover that we think you will find useful. The features described are available to all users. To learn more, click here.
A -0.1% drop in wholesale goods prices took away from a +0.3% increase in wholesale service costs, limiting overall wholesale inflation to a +0.2% gain in September, recovering from August’s unexpected -0.1% drop. Costs dropped for both energy (-0.8%) and food (-0.6%), and excluding food and energy goods prices rose +0.2% for the month. The increase in service prices was lead by a +1.8% increase in transportation and warehousing costs, which included a +5.4% increase in passenger transportation costs, and excluding trade, transportation and warehousing brought the wholesale service price gain down to a +0.1% increase. On a yearly basis, producer prices were up +2.6%, with goods prices up +3.2% and service prices up +2.4%.
Consumer prices edged up +0.1% in September, dropping the yearly inflation rate from +2.7% to +2.3%. Consumer food prices remained steady compared to August and were up +1.4% for the year, while energy costs declined by -0.5%, but gained +4.8% for the year. Excluding food and energy costs, inflation was up +0.1% for the month and +2.2% for the year, unchanged from August’s yearly rate. Prices dropped for both new vehicles (-0.1%), and used cars (-3.0%), but rose for apparel (+0.9%), transportation services (+0.5%), and shelter (+0.2%). On a yearly basis, prices increased the most in large cities (> 2.5 million) in the West at +3.7%, pulled up by a +3.9% increase in the Los Angeles area, and increased the most slowly in the South at +1.7%, with cities of less than 2.5 million in the South averaging a +1.6% increase in consumer prices.
U.S. export prices were unchanged in September after dropping for the two previous months, and the yearly increase in export prices fell to +2.7% after reaching a high of +5.3% in June. Agricultural export prices fell -1.4% for the month and -2.3% for the year, driven by a -18.8% drop in soybean prices over the past three months. Excluding the drop in agricultural prices, export prices rose +0.2% (+3.3% Y/Y), with price increases for fuels (+1.3%, +14.8% Y/Y) and nondurable industrial supplies (+0.6%, +10.2% Y/Y), and dropped for durable industrial supplies (-0.6%, -0.2% Y/Y), and building materials (-0.5%, +1.3% Y/Y). Import prices rose +0.5% after drops for the previous two months and were up +3.5% for the year. The increase in imports was driven by a +3.8% increase in fuel prices, with a -4.0% drop in gas prices somewhat offsetting a +4.1% increase for petroleum products. Excluding fuel, import prices were unchanged, with increases for food (+2.0%, -3.2% Y/Y) and industrial supplies (+1.5%, +14.8% Y/Y), and drops for consumer goods (-0.1%, +0.6% Y/Y).
Monday October 15 – Retail Sales
Tuesday October 16 – Industrial Production
