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January 18, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ In December, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent, or
2.1 percent at an annual rate. Excluding food and energy prices,
the CPI increased 0.1 percent, or 0.7 percent at an annual rate.
Following gains of 1.6 percent in 1998 and 2.7 percent in 1999, the
CPI increased 3.4 percent in 2000; last year’s increase was the
largest in 10 years. Excluding food and energy prices, the CPI rose
2.6 percent in 2000, the largest gain in four years.
■ After rising 0.1 percent in November, the producer price index for
finished goods (PPI) was unchanged in December. Producer prices
for finished goods increased 3.6 percent in 2000, the largest gain in
10 years.
■ In December, the index of industrial production (production at
manufacturers, utilities and mines) fell 0.6 percent—a 6.4 percent
annual rate. Manufacturing output fell 1.1 percent—or at a 12.5
percent rate—the third consecutive monthly decline and the largest
since November 1990. The manufacturing capacity utilization rate
averaged 79.1 percent in December, down 1.6 percent from
November and the largest monthly decline since January 1982.
■ According to the advance report, the nominal value of sales at the
nation’s retailers totaled $271.3 billion in December, up 0.1 percent
from November. Excluding auto sales, retail sales declined slightly
(less than 0.1 percent). Non-automotive retail sales increased 0.5
percent during the fourth quarter, the smallest increase since the
second quarter of 1997.
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis. For more information on data, please call (314) 444-8590. To be added to the mailing
list, please call (314) 444-8808 or (314) 444-8809.
Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) electronic
bulletin board at (314) 621-1824 or internet World Wide Web server at www.stls.frb.org/fred.