The producer price index (PPI) for finished goods rose 0.1% in July, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today, as the steepest drop in food prices in a decade (-1.6%) virtually canceled out the impact of a 2.3% jump in energy prices.

The producer price index (PPI) for finished goods rose 0.1% in July, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, as the steepest drop in food prices in a decade (-1.6%) virtually canceled out the impact of a 2.3% jump in energy prices. The “core” index, which omits food and energy, ticked up just 0.1%. Over the past 12 months, the overall PPI rose 4% but the core PPI climbed only 1.7%, suggesting that an acceleration of consumer-level inflation is not imminent.

The figures for construction were mixed. The intermediate goods index for materials and components for construction slowed for the third month in a row, moving up 0.2% in July, compared gains of 0.7% in June, 1.5% in May, and 1.7% in April. Prices for steel mill products increased 1.9%, after surging 6.2% in the preceding month; the rise since July 2003 totaled 44%, highest of any intermediate-goods PPI in the published table.