RSSPPI Develops A Sinking Feeling
By Brad Zigler | October 15, 2008 | 1:16 PM | 0 Comments
Wholesale prices throughout the supply chain have fallen off the inflationary wagon, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Producer Price Index for finished goods slipped 0.4% last month, following a 0.9% decline in August. Prices received by producers of intermediate goods fell 1.2% after decreasing 1% a month earlier. Crude goods prices also declined 7.9% in September, on the heels of an 11.9% dip in August.
Producer Price Index
Readers of this column shouldn't be surprised by these numbers. It's not that we didn't see this coming. After all, we've got a real-time yardstick that allows us to measure inflation and deflation (see "Computing Inflation In Real Time").
The deflation in wholesale prices was presaged by a reversal in monetary inflation that began earlier this year.
Monetary Inflation Vs. Gold Price
After this, tomorrow's release of Consumer Price Index numbers - and our own Breakfast Index readings - ought to be anticlimatic, right?
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