Wire and Cable Pricing Down YTY in EPI

While the 0.1 percent total increase in EM's Electrical Price Index (EPI) maintained its recent trend of little price movement, two of the more volatile product categories, building wire and power cable, showed marked declines from Jan. 2011. Building wire is down 9.6% YTY, while power cable is down 2.3% YTY. Lamp prices showed a sizeable decrease in January (-1.7%).

Electrical Price Index — January 2012

1997=100Jan. 2012Dec. 2011Jan. 2010% Change1 Mo. 1 Yr. Building Wire & Cable 215.5 215.4 238.5 0.0 -9.6 Power Wire & Cable 203.5 207.8 208.4 -2.1 -2.3 Telephone 183.1 183.2 176.6 -0.1 3.7 Hand & Power Tools 117 116.7 115.9 0.2 0.9 Elec. Heating Equip. 127.4 127.4 124.9 0.1 2.0 Residential Lighting 127.3 125.4 122.3 1.6 4.1 Industrial Fixtures 124.2 124.3 118.0 -0.1 5.2 Fans & Blowers 139.6 139.3 134.5 0.2 3.8 Wiring Devices & Connectors 128.3 128.6 120.9 -0.2 6.1 Pole Line Hardware 148.3 147.4 146.7 0.6 1.1 Boxes 156.4 155.4 154.7 0.6 1.1 Conduit Fittings 125.3 125.1 124.8 0.1 0.4 Metal Conduit 163.1 162.9 162.8 0.1 0.2 Nonmetallic Conduit 132.6 132.3 132.2 0.2 0.3 Motors 149.4 149.8 142.2 -0.2 5.1 Generators 143.7 142.5 137.0 0.8 4.9 Ballasts 137.4 137.4 137.7 0.0 -0.3 Elect. Meas. & Integ. Inst. 111.2 111.2 111.2 0.0 0.0 Transformers 126.4 126.2 125.3 0.2 1.0 Panelboards & Switches 151.2 150.4 147.1 0.6 2.8 Circuit Breakers 158 157.1 153.7 0.6 2.8 Switchgear 157.7 157.9 155.1 -0.2 1.7 Fuses 145.1 144.8 141.9 0.2 2.3 Industrial Controls 144.3 143.5 140.4 0.6 2.8 Lamps 127 129.2 121.2 -1.7 4.7 Appliances 106.6 104.5 102.6 2.0 3.9 Air Conditioners 124.7 127.2 120.1 -2.0 3.9 Fasteners 141.1 140.7 137.0 0.3 3.0 Total Index 141.8 141.6 142.3 0.1 -0.3

Note: All EPI series represent Global Insight aggregates of Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) producer price indices (PPIs). The revised data partly reflect redefinitions of specific PPIs by the BLS, but mostly reflect the rebenchmarking of all EPI price series to a 1997 base year. The four following EPI series have been affected by BLS redefinitions: boxes, conduit (fittings), nonmetallic conduit, and generators. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Global Insight