EPI Index Drops 1.3% in October

Led by a 5.8%-drop in building wire and cable and a 4.3% decline in power wire & cable, EM’s Electrical Price Index (EPI) slid a sizeable 1.3% in October. This follows a 2.9%-decline in September and leaves the EPI up 0.2 percent YTY. The only other categories with changes of more than one percent were telephone (-2.3%) and industrial fixtures (+2.1%)

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