by Christina Lee on April 14th, 2009
Wholesale prices had declined for the first time this year, surprising economists who largely did not expect them to change at all.
For some, this decrease could be interpreted as a preventive measure against inflation, as Bloomberg reported this morning. Wholesale prices last declined in December 2008, by 1.8 percent.
Measured by the producer price index, wholesale prices serve as one of three gauges of inflation calculated monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Rapidly declining energy prices led the overall decrease, as the costs of both gasoline and home heating oil each declined by 13 percent.
On the other... Read more »
by Christina Lee on March 18th, 2009
Wholesale prices rose by 0.1 percent over the course of February – now the second noted increase in a row since a 1.9 percent decline in December.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the rise yesterday through its regular tracking of wholesale prices of crude, intermediate and finished goods, cumulatively referred to as the producer price index.
Finance and economics journalist James Picerno called the price increase paired with the 22 percent rise in new housing starts “more than just a dead cat bounce.”
“Is it safe to declare the deflation risk over? No, not yet, but it’s not too... Read more »
by Christina Lee on December 12th, 2008
A collective analysis of studies released this week paint a revealing, evocative portrait of the nation’s economic environment. As prices drop, spending drops even further, as an opaque cloud of consumer pessimism remains hovering over the nation. But below, amongst all of the downward activity, researchers are searching for that cloud’s silver lining.
On the Ground Below
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Retail Federation, and Census Bureau released reports indicating that wholesalers and retailers are still adjusting to the economic climate, as price indexes continued to fall:
Retail container traffic fell in November for the 16th month in a... Read more »
by Christina Lee on October 21st, 2008
Wholesale prices dropped for the second month in a row after reaching the highest annual rate in 27 years, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report.
Prices fell by 0.4 percent in September, following a 0.9 percent decrease the previous month. They are still 8.7 percent higher than they were in September 2007, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week.
The two-month drop in wholesale prices – collectively referred to as the producer price index – follows a 1.2 percent month-to-month increase and a 9.8 percent rise from July 2007, that being the sharpest increase since a... Read more »
by Carrie Hinkel on November 15th, 2007
Selling items that you have made yourself can be a great business; however, pricing your products isn’t as simple as you may think. There are many “hidden” costs involved that, if not considered, can dramatically lower your wholesale profit margin without you even knowing it.
In order to make sure that you are covering all the costs involved in calculating the wholesale price for your items, be sure to take each of these costs into consideration.
Materials – This one seems obvious at first: the materials you buy to make the item. However, there’s more. If you are using paint,... Read more »