The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released February 2019 Producer Price Indexes (PPI) today. The All commodities index increased 0.1% over the last month & decreased 0.3% over the last year on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Fabricated structural metal products rose 0.8% between January – February ’19 & increased 8.5% over the last 12 months. Agricultural chemicals and chemical products increased 4.1% over the last month & rose 9.1% over the last year. Paints and allied products rose 0.8% from January – February ’19 & increased 5.7% over the last 12 months. Air conditioning and refrigeration equipment increased 0.4% over the last month & rose 5.1% over the last year. Household appliances rose 0.5% between January – February ’19 & increased 5.3% over the last 12 months. Metal cans and can components increased 0.9% over the last month & rose 5.0% over the last year. Tractors and attachments, excluding parts rose 0.7% between January – February ’19 & increased 7.3% over the last 12 months. Polish and other sanitation goods increased 0.7% over the last month & rose 7.2% over the last year. Fabricated ferrous wire products rose 0.9% between January – February ’19 & increased 15.9% over the last 12 months.
PPI Historical Inflation Averages
Historical annual inflation rate averages through February ’19 for all 2 and 3-digit PPI commodity groupings are listed below (capitalized category description denotes a Major BLS PPI Commodity Group i.e. IPIC pool):
CPI v. PPI Supermarket Inflation Comparison
The historical CPI v. PPI supermarket inflation spread is shown in the table below:
