March 15, 2007

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 1.3 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. This increase followed a 0.6-percent decline in January and a 0.9-percent rise in December. At the earlier stages of processing, the intermediate goods index turned up 1.1 percent after falling 0.7 percent in the previous month, and prices for crude goods climbed 8.9 percent following a 6.3-percent decrease in January.
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Among finished goods in February, the index for energy goods moved up 3.5 percent compared with a 4.6-percent drop a month earlier. The rate of increase for consumer foods prices accelerated to 1.9 percent in February from 1.1 percent in January. Excluding prices for foods and …

January 2007 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, were $333.4 billion, down 0.9% from the revised December level but up 6.2% from January 2006.
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January sales of durable goods were virtually unchanged from last month, but were up 5.7% from a year ago. Sales of metals and minerals, except petroleum, were up 4.4% from last month.
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January sales of nondurable goods were down 1.8% from last month, but were up 6.7% from last year.
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Total inventories were $396.7 billion at the end of January, up 0.7% from last month and up 9.2% from a year ago. End-of-month inventories of durable goods increased 1.1% from December and were up 9.3% from last January. Compared to last month, inventories of motor vehicle and …