View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

October 21, 1999

USFinancialData
THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
After rising at 3.7 percent annual rate between June and August,
the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) rose
at a 5.1 percent rate in September. Although energy prices were
a significant contributor to the September gain, the CPI less
energy still rose at a 3.5 percent rate. When food prices also are
removed, the CPI increased at a 4.1 percent rate in September.
Year-to-date, the total CPI is up at a 2.8 percent pace, while
the CPI less food and energy is up at a 1.9 percent rate. The
comparable increases during the same period a year earlier
were 1.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
Producer prices for finished goods (PPI) surged upward at a
13.4 percent annual rate in September, the largest gain in nine
years. Through the first nine months of 1999, the PPI has increased
at a 3.5 percent rate; by contrast, the PPI declined at a 0.8 percent
rate during the same period a year earlier.
The U.S. goods and services trade deficit totaled $24.1 billion in
August, off slightly from July’s $24.9 billion deficit. U.S. exports
increased 3.7 percent, or $2.9 billion, in August, the largest rise
since October 1996. U.S. exports are up 4.9 percent year-to-date,
a sizable rebound from the 4.2 percent decline registered during
the same period in 1998.
Industrial production fell 3.8 percent at an annual rate in
September, the first decline in eight months. For the third quarter,
however, industrial output rose at a 3.7 percent rate, nearly
matching the 3.8 percent gain posted in the second quarter.
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.