The Producer Price Index (PPI) is released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and tracks changes to the price of end-user products. Unlike the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks cost from the consumer’s view, PPI tracks cost changes from the producer’s view. It represents the average movement in selling prices from domestic production over time.
PPI uses three areas of production classification — crude (raw product), intermediate (manufactured good but not finished), and finished (what the end-user sees and pays for). The BLS tracks nearly 10,000 individual products and product groups, covering sectors such as construction, manufacturing, mining, and agriculture.