July Housing Starts, Producer Prices Down

Producer prices -- the price of products before they reach store shelves -- was down a whopping 6.8 percent over the past year, which is worrisome. It marked the biggest decrease in more than 60 years of record-keeping.

PPI is the best indication of future Consumer Price Index, or the best measure of inflation, meaning rising prices. The CPI released last week hinted at least disinflation and possibly deflation, which is one of the worst things that can happen to an economy -- its sustained contraction, when prices and wages fall hand-in-hand, as happened in the Great Depression...

WaPo: July Housing Starts, Producer Prices Down