The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released December 2018 Producer Price Indexes (PPI) today. The All commodities index increased 0.3% over the last month & rose 3.0% over the last year on a seasonally unadjusted basis. The Other industrial safety equipment category increased 3.4% over the last month & rose 8.3% over the last year. Household appliances increased 0.8% over the last month & rose 0.8% over the last year. Agricultural chemicals increased 0.8% over the last month & rose 10.6% over the last year. Furniture and household durables increased 0.5% over the last month & rose 3.9% over the last year. Floor coverings increased 0.5% over the last month & rose 4.6% over the last year. Heating equipment increased 0.3% over the last month & rose 5.3% over the last year.
Historical annual inflation rate averages through December 18 for all 2 and 3-digit PPI commodity codes are listed below (capitalized category description denotes a Major BLS PPI Commodity Group i.e. IPIC pool):
December 2018 CPI v. PPI Supermarket Inflation Comparison
The historical CPI v. PPI supermarket inflation spread through December ’18 is shown in the table below:
