It’s probably fitting that Electrical Marketing’s Electrical Price Index (EPI) ended 2013 with another month of no change, and a YTY change of less than 1% (0.4%). Power cable did drop 3.6% in December for a YTY total of -4.6%. Lamps (+1.7%) were up in December and telephone supplies (-1.0%) dropped. All other categories showed changes of less than 1% in December.
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