Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 4/11/14


The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.5 percent last month, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The seasonally adjusted index for final demand prices for foods rose 0.9 percent last month over February, led by an 8.2 percent increase in the index for pork (which was up 16.5 percent over the index level for March 2013). The index for beef and veal was up 2.9 percent over its level in February, while chickens were up 1.6 percent and processed turkey up 0.6 percent.

For slaughter steers and heifers, the index for unprocessed goods for intermediate demand increased by 5.1 percent from February. Slaughter hogs rose 31.9 percent (and 46.1 percent over March 2013’s level), slaughter chicken rose 20.8 percent, and slaughter turkeys were up 4.2 percent month-over-month.

The BLS has changed the way it calculates the PPI, shifting to an aggregation system based on final demand and intermediate demand from the old system that used stages of processing. “Final demand” measures price changes for goods, services and construction sold for personal consumption, capital investment, government purchase and exports.

“Intermediate demand” is measured using two parallel treatments: price changes for goods, services and construction sold to business as inputs to production; and a measure that tracks demand by production flow, watching price indexes for goods, services and construction through four production stages.

The BLS says the new system more than doubles the PPI's coverage of the U.S. economy to include more than three-quarters of the in-scope domestic production.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.