(202) 606-7705 This Release Is Embargoed — 1999-05-13

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.5 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This rise follows a 0.2-percent increase in March and a 0.4-percent decline in February. Excluding the influence of the 29.1-percent rise in gasoline prices, the finished goods index declined 0.1 percent in April. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy increased 0.1 percent, after showing no change a month earlier. Prices received by producers of intermediate goods advanced 0.6 percent, after increasing 0.3 percent in the previous month. The crude goods index gained 1.3 percent, following a 1.0-percent rise in March. (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.) 1998 Apr.