PRODUCER PRICES OF KEY TRANSPORTATION INPUTS

Key Producer Price Indices for Transportation (monthly data, not seasonally adjusted)

Producer Price Indices: All Commodities (monthly data, not seasonally adjusted)

Producer prices are those charged for the output of firms in a particular industry, or by all firms, regardless of industrial classification, for a particular commodity. These prices exclude markups at later stages of processing and the retail level. Producer prices reflect prices charged to anyone purchasing directly from the firm, including consumers, when the firm also serves as a retailer.

Changes in producer prices for transportation inputs suggest the direction of future costs for providing transportation services. Motor vehicle prices are strongly seasonal, declining as the model year culminates each September.

NOTE: The current value is compared to the value from the same period in the previous year to account for seasonality.

Data from February 2001 to May 2001 are preliminary. A more complete description of producer prices is given in Chapter 14 of the BLS Handbook of Methods, available at: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch14_e.htm.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at: http://www.bls.gov/ppihome.htm.