Producer prices of apparel continued to stabilize in June, according to just-released US government data, an indication that cost pressures on apparel retailers are finally be starting to ease.
The producer price index (PPI), which measures the average change in the selling prices received by all domestic producers for their output, increased .7% in June compared to the same month last year, even with May’s increase and the smallest rise since September 2009.
The producer price index for apparel, however, rose by 1.7%, though this was lower than May’s 2% increase.
The smaller rise in apparel PPI was due to a drop in the menswear price index, which rose by 5.2%, much less than the jumps seen in April and May. Although menswear producer prices have been increasing faster than those of women’s apparel for almost two years, the gap has narrowed in the past couple of months as men’s tailored clothing sales have slowed.
Women’s producer prices increased by a negligible .5%, slightly below May’s .6% increase.
