May was another month of light activity for Electrical Marketing’s Electrical Price Index (EPI), with no change since April and just a 0.2% increase from May 2016. It’s interesting to note that while Building Wire & Cable showed no change month-to-month, Power Wire & Cable was down -2.9% from April and down -6.6% year-over-year. Switchgear (+1.8%) and Fuses +1%) ran against the trend and were up.
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