Full text of U.S. Financial Data : July 15, 1999

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July 15, 1999

USFinancialData
THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
The consumer price index (CPI) was unchanged in June—the second
straight month of no change. Nevertheless, April’s 0.7 percent gain
caused the CPI to increase at a 3.5 percent annual rate during the
second quarter, the largest rise in three years. Measured from four
quarters earlier, the CPI is up 2.1 percent.
Prices for finished goods at the producer level (PPI) fell 0.9 percent
at an annual rate in June. But with the PPI rising at a 3.7 percent
rate between March and May, producer prices rose at a 2.6 percent
rate in the second quarter, the sharpest rise in 2 1/2 years.
Total business inventories increased $3.4 billion in May, or
0.3 percent. At the same time, total business sales rose 1.2 percent.
Accordingly, the business inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 1.34 in
May, its lowest level in nearly 49 years.
The current dollar value of sales at the nation’s retailers in June
rose 0.1 percent. Boosted by appreciable gains in April and May,
however, retail sales rose 1.9 percent during the second quarter, or
at a 7.9 percent annual rate. By contrast, retail sales grew at a
14.5 percent rate during the first quarter.
Following gains of 0.8 percent in May and 1.1 percent in April,
the index of U.S. import prices fell 0.2 percent in June. Measured
from a year earlier, import prices have dipped 0.2 percent, quite
a contrast from the 5.7 percent decline seen between June 1997
and June 1998.
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
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Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) electronic
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