This Week - Data Releases for the Week Ending
February 17, 2012

by Valorie Hanni Rice
Reference Librarian

The Bureau of Labor Statistics release Producer Price Indexes on Thursday, February 16th. The January index for finished goods rose 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. The change over 12 months was 4.1 percent, unadjusted.

Initial unemployment applications dropped again this week in the US down to a seasonally adjusted 348,000. The four-week average went down to 365,250. This is the fifth straight week that the average has declined. In Arizona, initial claims for the first week of February were 5,325, a slight decrease from 5,432 reported the previous week. The four-week average here decreased to 5,759.

The January Consumer Price Index was released Friday, February 17th. The CPI rose 0.2 percent over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Energy prices for gasoline increased while household energy declined. Within all items less food and energy, apparel saw a significant increase while prices for used cars decreased. Inflation increased by 2.9 percent over the year.
The Conference Board released the Leading Economic Index on February 17th. It increased 0.4 percent to 94.9 for January. This was the fourth straight month in which the Index increased.