(202) 691-7705 This Release Is Embargoed — 2005-05-17

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.6 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This increase followed a 0.7-percent rise in March and a 0.4-percent gain in February. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods climbed 0.8 percent, after advancing 1.0 percent in the previous month, while the crude goods index moved up 2.7 percent, following a 4.3-percent rise in March. (See table A.) Among finished goods, much of April's increase was due to a 2.1- percent advance in the energy goods index. Excluding prices for energy goods, the finished goods index inched up 0.1 percent. The indexes for finished consumer goods other than foods and energy, capital equipment, and finished consumer foods also increased in April--rising 0.2, 0.2, and 0.1 percent, respectively.