EPI Increases 0.1% in January

Electrical Marketing's Electrical Price Index crawled up 0.1 percent in January but was up 6.4 percent YTY from January 2009. Power cable had the largest increase (+1.6%), followed by pole-line hardware and boxes, which both registered increases of 1.4 percent. Air conditioners saw a -2.5 percent price decline. No other category had a monthly change of more than one percent.

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

Electrical Price Index — January 20101997=100Jan.Dec.Jan.% Change2010 2009 2009 1 Mo. 1 Yr. Building wire & cable 223.6 221.9 164.2 0.7 36.2 Power wire & cable 187.1 184.1 158.9 1.6 17.7 Telephone wire 160.6 160.3 145.2 0.2 10.6 Hand & power tools 115.6 115.6 115.9 0 -0.3 EM/bank heating 124.8 124.5 123.8 0.3 0.8 Residential lighting fixtures 120.8 120.7 122.5 0.1 -1.4 Industrial fixtures 116.4 118.7 118.8 -1.9 -2.0 Fans & blowers 132.6 132.2 134.5 0.3 -1.4 Wiring dev. & connectors 119.1 119.1 117.9 0 0.9 Pole line hardware 142.8 140.9 142.2 1.4 0.4 Boxes 150.6 148.6 150 1.4 0.4 Conduit fittings 124.5 124.3 124.5 0.1 0 Metal conduit & EMT 162 161.6 161.9 0.2 0.1 Nonmetallic conduit 131.1 130.6 131 0.4 0.1 Motors 132.4 132 133.1 0.3 -0.6 Generators, generator sets 129.6 129.4 129 0.2 0.5 Ballasts 137.7 137.7 137.7 0 0 Elect. meas. & integ. inst. 111.2 111.2 111.1 0 0.1 Transformers 121.9 121.7 121.4 0.2 0.4 Panelboards & switches 141.1 140.9 140.2 0.2 0.7 Circuit breakers 147.5 147.2 146.5 0.2 0.7 Switchgear 154.7 154.8 154.5 -0.1 0.1 Fuses 138.8 138.7 138.2 0 0.4 Industrial controls 134.7 134.5 133.8 0.2 0.7 Lamps 120.4 119.6 116.7 0.6 3.2 Appliances 102 102.5 102.9 -0.5 -1 Air conditioners 118.9 121.9 123.5 -2.5 -3.7 Fasteners 131.7 132.3 136.1 -0.4 -3.2 Total Index 137.6 137.5 129.3 0.1 6.4