(202) 691-7705 This Release Is Embargoed — 2000-02-17

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods showed no change in January, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This followed a 0.1-percent increase in December and a 0.2-percent advance in November. The index for finished goods other than foods and energy fell 0.2 percent in January, after edging up 0.1 percent in the previous month. At the earlier stages of process, prices received by producers of intermediate goods rose 0.4 percent, following a 0.2-percent increase in the prior month, and the crude goods index advanced 2.7 percent, after a 3.9-percent decline a month earlier. (See table A.) Table A. Monthly and annual percent changes in selected stage-of- processing price indexes, seasonally adjusted Finish ed goods Change in Finished Inter- Except goods foods From 12 mediate Crude and months Month Total Foods Energy energy ago goods goods (unadj.) 1999 Jan. 0.4 1.5 1.1 -0.1 0.8 -0.1 1.0 Feb.