EPI Index Slips Again in February

Electrical Marketing’s Electrical Price Index (EPI) dropped 0.4% in February, and not surprisingly Building Wire & Cable (-1.5%) and Power Wire & Cable (-0.9%) showed some of the largest declines. They also showed some of the largest year-over year declines. Telephone supplies (-2%) also showed one of the larger declines. Air conditioning equipment  was up 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