BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1997
The PPI for finished goods fell 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, in
November, as energy costs declined. The core PPI rate edged down 0.1
percent in November. For the year to date, finished goods prices fell
at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.2 percent, compared with a 2.8
percent increase for all of 1996. Prices for finished goods other than
food and energy edged up at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.2
percent in the first 11 months of 1997, after rising 0.6 percent in the
prior year ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-1; USA Today, page
1B)_____Falling prices of imported finished goods and parts are
contributing to downward pressure on wholesale prices of U.S.-made
products. Over the past 12 months, producer prices of finished goods
made in the U.S. have dropped by 0.6 percent. In the same period,
prices of imported goods dropped by 3.9 percent ....A chart shows
November-to-November changes in selected PPI and import prices (Wall
Street Journal, page A4).
Business inventories increased 0.4 percent in October, continuing the
year-long trend; sales edged down 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department
reports. Inventories have advanced every month this year ....(Daily
Labor Report, page D-10).
Manufacturing activity in the Southeast slowed during November, blunted
by rising inventory levels, but a moderate upswing in expectations
suggests the lull is temporary, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
reports ....(Daily Labor Report, page A-8).
DUE OUT TOMORROW:
Consumer Price Index - November 1997
Real Earnings: November 1997
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