> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2001:
>
> RELEASED TODAY: The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 0.1
> percent in May, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
> U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This increase followed a
> 0.3-percent gain in April and a 0.1-percent decline in March. Prices for
> finished goods other than foods and energy increased 0.2 percent for the
> second consecutive month. The intermediate goods index rose 0.1 percent,
> after a 0.2-percent decline in the prior month. Prices for crude goods
> turned down 2.3 percent, following a 0.9-percent rise in April.
>
> Wholesale inflation inched up in May as falling prices for a variety of
> food items blunted rising costs for electricity and heating oil, the
> government reported Thursday. The Labor Department's Producer Price
> Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach store shelves,
> crept up a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent last month, following a modest
> 0.3 percent increase in April. The latest reading on inflation at the
> wholesale level was better than the 0.3 percent increase many analysts
> were predicting. In another report, the number of Americans filing new
> claims for state unemployment benefits fell by a seasonally adjusted
> 12,000 last week to 428,000, the first decline since the beginning of May.
> The dip, which analysts expected, followed a big spike the week before.
> In a third report, businesses' inventories of unsold goods were flat in
> April, while sales fell by 0.5 percent, additional evidence that the weak
> economy has sapped demand (Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press,
> http://www.nypost.com/apstories/business/V0530.htm;
> http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/26476p-475070c.html).
>
> Inflation at the wholesale level was tame in May, offering reassuring news
> for Federal Reserve policymakers who will meet later this month to
> consider whether to cut interest rates further. The Labor Department said
> today that its Producer Price Index, measuring prices paid to businesses
> for ready-to-sell goods such as clothing and gasoline, inched up 0.1
> percent last month after a 0.3 percent rise in April. Fed policymakers,
> who will hold a regular scheduled meeting on June 26 and 27, are expected
> to cut interest rates for a sixth time this year to help boost the
> struggling U.S. economy. Inflation is not likely to be a concern. So far
> this year, inflation at the wholesale level was running at a 3.8 percent
> seasonally adjusted annualized rate and at 1.8 percent for the core rate,
> the Labor Department said. A separate Labor Department report showed the
> number of Americans seeking first-time unemployment benefits fell by
> 12,000 to 428,000 for the week ended June 9, which was closely in line
> with Wall Street expectations of a decline to 422,000 claims
> (http:www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,2669,ART-5243
> 3,FF.html).
>
> Over the past 2 months, the U.S. economy was barely growing, with weakness
> reported in virtually every sector except drilling for oil and gas,
> according to the Federal Reserve's latest nationwide survey. "Economic
> activity was little changed or decelerating," said the summary of the
> survey released yesterday (John M. Berry, The Washington Post, page E1.
> The article is illustrated with a map and an explanation of
> region-by-region economic activity).
>
> Economic activity is slow across the nation, according to the Federal
> Reserve, say The New York Times (page C4) and The Wall Street Journal
> (page A2), each of which published a map with a region-by-region analysis
> on the part of the Federal Reserve.
>
> U.S. economic growth was little changed or slowed in April and May, the
> Federal Reserve said in its regional report card on the U.S. economy.
> Retail sales and tourism was "slow to flat" and construction has
> "slackened somewhat" in several districts in the last 2 months, the Fed
> said. The report "underscores the Fed's current stance that the risks
> remain balanced toward recession rather than inflation," said the chief
> economist at Bank One Corp. in Chicago. "It tells you they'll remain on
> watch for slowing, rather than inflation down the road" (Bloomberg News,
> http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/165/business/Economy_sluggish_in_April_M
> ay%2b.shtml 6/14/01).
>
> DUE OUT TOMORROW: Consumer Price Index--May 2001; Real Earnings--May
> 2001
>
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