Today's Economic Reports

June 16, 2009

There were three major economic reports this morning.

First, wholesale prices rose 0.2% last month. Most of that was due to higher energy prices. If you look at the "core rate," which excludes food and energy, producer prices fell 0.1%. Even with the 0.2% gain, the year-over-year rate is showing its steepest decline since 1949.

Speaking of the 1940s, industrial production dropped 1.1% in May which brings the year-over-year drop of 13.4% to its lowest level since 1946. May's report was a tad more than the 1% drop Wall Street was expecting.

Finally, housing starts surged by 17.2% in May. That's coming after a big 12.9% drop in April which brought housing starts to their lowest level since the late-1940s.

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