The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released August 2018 Producer Price Indexes (PPI) today. The Rubber and plastic products category increased by 0.5% from July to August and has increased by 3.6% over a one year period. The Industrial chemicals category rose 0.5% over the last month, and has increased by 10.4% over a one year period. The general purpose machinery and equipment category increased by 0.4% from July to August and has increased by 3.7% over the last year. The Textile products and apparel index rose 0.3% over the last month and has increased 3.2% over the last year. The Iron and steel category also increased 0.3% from July to August and had rose 14.7% from August ’17 – August ’18. Historical annual inflation rate averages through August ’18 for all 2 and 3-digit PPI commodity codes are listed below (capitalized category description denotes a 2-digit Major BLS PPI Commodity Group i.e. IPIC pool):
