September 21, 2007

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods fell 1.4 percent in August, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported.&nbsp ; &nbsp ; This decrease followed a 0.6-percent increase in July and a 0.2-percent decline in June. &nbsp ; At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods moved down 1.2 percent in August compared with a 0.6-percent advance in July, and the crude goods index dropped 3.0 percent after climbing 1.2 percent in the prior month.

Accounting for most of the downturn in finished goods prices, the index for energy goods fell 6.6 percent in August following a 2.5-percent rise in the prior month. &nbsp ; Prices for consumer foods declined 0.2 percent after inching down 0.1 …