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LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATOR: One of eleven economic statistics that tend to move up or down a few months before the expansions and contractions of the business cycle. These leading indicators are -- manufacturers new orders, an index of vendor performance, orders for plant and equipment, Standard & Poor's 500 index of stock prices, new building permits, durable goods manufacturers unfilled orders, the money supply, change in materials prices, average workweek in manufacturing, changes in business and consumer credit, a consumer confidence index, and initial claims for unemployment insurance. Leading indicators indicate what the aggregate economy is likely to do, business-cycle-wise, 3 to 12 months down the road. When leading indicators rise today, then the rest of the economy is likely to rise in the coming year. And when leading indicators decline, then the economy is likely to decline in 3 to 12 months.
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                           WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX: An index of the prices paid by retail stores for the products they ultimately resell to consumers. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was the forerunner of the modern Producer Price Index (PPI) and was discontinued in 1978. Other noted price indexes used to track economic activity are the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the GDP price deflator. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was first published in 1902, and was one of the more important economic indicators available to policy makers until it was replaced by the PPI in 1978. The change to Producer Price Index in 1978 reflected, as much as a name change, a change in focus of this index away from the limited wholesaler-to-retailer transaction to encompass all stages of production. While the WPI is no longer available, the family of producer price indexes provides a close counterpart in what is labeled the Finished Goods Price Index.The importance of the WPI rested with its ability to forewarn later changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation. The WPI's forecasting ability rested with the simply input-output relation for retail stores. In other words, the prices PAID BY retail stores for their inputs are largely passed along as prices CHARGED TO consumers buying these goods as outputs. An increase in the WPI resulting from higher input prices this month, is likely reflected in an increase in the CPI in future months. This forecasting ability was frequently useful for stabilization policies. Suppose, for example, that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System wanted to prevent inflation. Even though the CPI and GDP price deflator were relatively stable, an increase in the WPI would have prompted the Chairman to initiate contractionary monetary policy, making a pre-emptive strike against inflation.
Recommended Citation:WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: March 17, 2025].
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PINK FADFLY
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time lost in your local discount super center trying to buy either a set of luggage with wheels or a birthday gift for your aunt. Be on the lookout for bottles of barbeque sauce that act TOO innocent.
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North Carolina supplied all the domestic gold coined for currency by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia until 1828.
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"If football taught me anything about business, it is that you win the game one play at a time." -- Fran Tarkenton, Football Player
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