WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices for U.S.-made apparel declined 0.1 percent in November compared with October, but rose 0.2 percent from a year earlier, the Labor Department reported Tuesday in its Producer Price Index.
Women’s apparel prices fell 0.1 percent month-to-month and were flat in 12-month comparisons. Men’s apparel prices declined 0.3 percent in the month and 0.5 percent for the year.
Prices for all goods and services rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent in November, driven mostly by food and energy costs, following 0.4 percent increases in October and September. The so-called core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy sectors, rose 0.3 percent in November.
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Food and fuel prices drove the headline PPI number up, said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist with IHS Global Insight. There was some upward pressure on prices from rising commodity prices, he said, “but there’s still plenty of slack in the economy to keep core inflation quiet.”
The PPI for apparel is not considered a key measure of prices because only about 5 percent of goods sold at retail are made in the U.S. The Consumer Price Index that is released today and includes all goods sold at retail, including imports, is the leading indicator of retail prices.
Prices for apparel fabric were flat month-to-month, but rose 4.1 percent form November 2009. Prices for goods made at textile product mills that manufacture mostly home furnishing and industrial fabrics, declined 0.1 percent compared with a month earlier, but rose 1.1 percent year-over-year.
Deeper in the pipeline, yarn prices rose 0.6 percent in November compared with October and spiked 7.8 percent from a year earlier, likely due to major increases in raw cotton. Greige fabric prices were up 0.3 percent in November and advanced 4.1 percent year-to-year.
Finished fabric prices fell 0.3 percent from a month earlier, but were up 3 percent compared with November 2009. Synthetic fiber prices were flat month-to-month, but declined 2.9 percent year-to-year.