Revision to four PPI commodity indexes for January 2004

PPI Detailed Report, May, 2004

The March 18, 2004 release of Producer Price Index (PPI) data for January 2004 contained erroneous January index levels for four commodity index series: All commodities, farm products and processed foods and feeds, industrial commodities, and all commodities except farm products. These index series appear in table 3 of the PPI news release and in tables 6 and 8 of the PPI Detailed Report. They also are available on the BLS Web site.

The error in calculating January index levels was made in a step that is unique to these four series. The correct preliminary values for January 2004 are 141.0 for all commodities, 136.4 for farm products and processed foods and feeds, 141.9 for industrial commodities, and 142.6 for all commodities except farm products. The published index values for all series other than the four listed above, and for all months other than January 2004, were not affected.

The original January 2004 index values for the four affected series were removed from the time series database and were not available in the January and February issues of the PPI Detailed Report. In addition, the originally released values for any percent changes involving January 2004 were incorrect for those four series. Those percent change values also were not available.

In accordance with the usual PPI policy, all PPI data are revised after 4 months. With the release of May 2004 data, final values for January 2004 are 141.4 for all commodities, 136.8 for farm products and processed foods and feeds, 142.2 for industrial commodities, and 142.9 for all commodities except farm products. In addition, percent change calculations are now published for periods beginning or ending in January 2004.

For further information, contact the Division of Industrial Prices and Price Indexes, Section of Index Analysis and Public Information at ppi-info@bls.gov or at (202) 691-7705.

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