The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released September 2018 Producer Price Indexes (PPI) today. The All commodities category increased by 0.1% over the last month on a seasonally unadjusted basis, and has risen by 4.3% over the last year (Sep ’17 – Sep ’18). The Nonmetallic mineral products index rose by 0.5% between August and September of this year and has increased by 4.4% between September ’17 – ’18. The General purpose machinery and equipment group also increased by 0.5% over the last month and rose 4.0% between September ’17 – ’18. The Furniture and household durables commodity group increased by 0.4% over a one month period and has risen by 3.2% over the last year. The Rubber and plastic products category rose by 0.2% between August ’18 – September ’18 and has increased by 3.6% over the last year. Historical annual inflation rate averages through September ’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):
