Today’s release of the March Producer Price Index (PPI) for Final Demand came in at -0.4% month-over-month seasonally adjusted. That follows the previous month’s 0.2% increase. Core Final Demand (less food and energy) came in at -0.2% month-over-month following a 0.2% change the month before.The Investing.com forecasts were for 0.2% headline and 0.1% core.

The year-over-year change in Final Demand is -1.3%, the lowest in the brief history of this data series.

Here is the summary of the news release on Finished Goods:

The Producer Price Index for final demand fell 0.4 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices moved up 0.2 percent in March and decreased 0.5 percent in February. On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand declined 1.3 percent for the 12 months ended in April…. 

In April, more than 70 percent of the decrease in final demand prices can be attributed to a 0.7-percent decline in the index for final demand goods. Prices for final demand services edged down 0.1 percent. More…

Finished Goods: Headline and Core

The BLS shifted its focus to its new “Final Demand” series in 2014, a shift we fully support. However, the data for these series are only constructed back to November 2009 for Headline and April 2010 for Core. Since our focus is on longer term trends, we continue to track the legacy Producer Price Index for Finished Goods, which the BLS also includes in their monthly updates.

The Headline Finished Goods for March came in at -0.57% MoM and is down -4.18% YoY. Core Finished Goods were up 0.05% MoM and 1.97% YoY.

Now let’s visualize the numbers with an overlay of the Headline and Core (ex food and energy) PPI for finished goods since 2000, seasonally adjusted. The plunge over the past several months in headline PPI is, of course, energy related — now fractionally off its interim low set last month. Core PPI has remained relatively stable over the past year.