PPI Methodology


BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 14, Producer Price Indexes

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How are PPIs calculated?
  2. How are PPIs weighted?
  3. Are PPIs seasonally adjusted?
  4. How are producers and products selected for the PPI survey?

All PPI FAQs »


How the BLS Measures Price Changes in PPIs for...


Methodology Reports


Articles and Research Papers

Quarterly Topical Articles

Beyond the Numbers: Prices & Spending

  • Wholesale and retail Producer Price Indexes: margin prices (2Q 2012) (HTML) (PDF)
  • How new fees are affecting the Producer Price Index for air travel (1Q 2012) (HTML) (PDF)

Focus on Prices and Spending

  • The 2012 PPI Weight Update: How and why does BLS update revenue weights? (4Q 2011) (PDF)
  • The Impact of Fuel Surcharges on the PPI (2Q 2011) (PDF)
  • What Does the Producer Price Index Measure? (3Q 2010) (HTML) (PDF)
  • PPI Industry or Commodity Data: Which Better Suits Your Needs? (2Q 2010) (PDF)

All PPI Quarterly Articles »


Economic Working Papers

  • Services Producer Price Indices: Past, Present, and Future (2006) (PDF)
  • A Comparison of the Substitution Effects for Input and Output Price Indexes (2000) (HTML)
  • The Productivity of the Banking Sector: Integrating Financial and Production Approaches to Measuring Financial Services Output (1998) (PDF 4MB)
  • Hedonic Adjustment of Hospital Service Price Inflation: An Application to Medicare Prices (1998) (PDF)
  • Nondurables and Services Responsiveness in a Nonlinear Model: More Evidence of Binding Borrowing Constraints (1997) (HTML)
  • Interarea Price Comparisons for Heterogeneous Goods and Several Levels of Commodity Aggregation (1996) (HTML)
  • Effects of Mismeasuring Base Period Prices When Estimating the Laspeyres Index: Some Idealized Cases (1996) (PDF)
  • Moral Hazard, Asymmetric Decisions, and the Shadow Price for Quality Adjustment in Medical Services (1996) (PDF)

BLS Statistical Survey Papers

  • Adjusting Sampling and Weighting to Account for Births and Deaths (2009) (HTML)
  • Estimating Missing Prices in Producer Price Index (2006) (HTML)
  • A Qualitative Study of Nonresponse Factors Affecting BLS Establishment Surveys: Results (2003) (HTML)
  • A Note on the Effects of Extreme Price Values on Price Indexes (2002) (HTML)
  • Comparison of Variance Estimation Techniques for a Price Index with Non-Independent Weights (2002) (HTML)
  • Some Issues in Seasonal Adjustment When Modeling Interventions (1993) (HTML)

Monthly Labor Review Articles on PPI Methodology

  • A new approach for quality-adjusting PPI microprocessors (December 2018)
  • Cross-validation of quality-adjustment methods for price indexes (June 2018)
  • Comparing NAICS-based Producer Price Index industry net output data and International Price Program import data (March 2018) (HTML)
  • Crude petroleum prices and retail fuel margins: an empirical examination (January 2018) (HTML)
  • New PPI net inputs to industry indexes (October 2015) (HTML)
  • Scheduled passenger air transportation in the Producer Price Index: improvements and trends (September 2013) (HTML)
  • Methodological Overview of the PPI FD-ID Aggregation System (February 2011) (PDF)
  • PPI and CPI seasonal adjustment: an update (July 2010) (PDF)
  • New wherever-provided services and construction indexes for PPI (August 2009) (PDF)
  • Price measures of new vehicles: a comparison (July 2008) (PDF)
  • Price transmission: from crude petroleum to plastics products (December 2006) (PDF)
  • Price and expenditure measures of petroleum products: a comparison (December 2006) (PDF)
  • Price transmission within the PPI for intermediate goods (May 2005) (PDF)
  • Factors affecting beef and cattle producer prices movements (May 2005) (PDF)
  • Consumer gasoline prices: an empirical investigation (July 2003) (PDF)
  • An empirical analysis of price transmission by stage of processing (November 2002) (PDF)
  • Comparing PPI energy indexes to alternative data sources (December 1998) (PDF)
  • The 1996 grain price shock: how did it affect food inflation? (August 1998) (PDF)
  • Improving the PPI samples for prescription pharmaceuticals (October 1997) (PDF)
  • Effect of 1992 weights on Producer Price Indexes (July 1996) (PDF)
  • Hospital price inflation: what does the new PPI tell us? (July 1996) (PDF)
  • Pricing practices for tobacco products, 1980-94 (December 1994) (PDF)
  • Effect of updated weights on Producer Price Indexes (March 1993) (PDF)
  • New price index for the computer industry (October 1990) (PDF 1,150K)
  • New stage of process price system for Producer Price Index (April 1988) (PDF 4,202K)

All PPI Monthly Labor Review Articles »

 

Special Notices

All PPI Notices »


Further Information

For further assistance contact the PPI Section of Index Analysis and Public Information at ppi-info@bls.gov or (202) 691-7705.

 

Last Modified Date: January 4, 2019