(202) 606-7705 This Release Is Embargoed — 1997-11-14

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods increased 0.1 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U. S. Department of Labor reported today. This followed a rise of 0.5 percent in September. Prices for finished goods other than foods and energy showed no change in October after increasing 0.4 percent a month ago. Prices received by domestic producers of intermediate goods fell 0.1 percent in October after increasing 0.3 percent in the previous month. The index for crude materials rose 4.0 percent after increasing 0.6 percent in September. (See table A.) Table A. Monthly and annual percent changes in selected stage-of- processing price indexes, seasonally adjusted Finish ed goods Change in Except Finished Inter- goods foods from 12 mediateCrude and months Month Total Foods Energy energy ago Goods goods (unadj.) 1996 Oct. 0.4 0.8 1.7 -0.1 3.1 -0.2 -0.7 Nov. 0.2 0 0.9 0 3.0 -0.2 2.7 Dec.