US Jewelry Prices Hold Steady in March
April 21, 15· The Jewelry Producer Price Index (JPPI) was 198.7 for March, reflecting slight price deflation from February’s index of 200.1, a decline of seven-tenths of one percent. On a year-to-year basis, the JPPI was down six-tenths of one percent, reflecting lower prices of commodities used in jewelry production.
· The Jewelry Consumer Price Index (JCPI) was 160.1 in March, a decline of two-tenths of a percent. This was a very modest move from February’s 160.4, and was nearly even with January’s 160.3. In short, jewelry retail prices were steady from January through March 2015. On a year-to-year basis, the JCPI was down 2.7 percent, which reflected lower merchandise costs which some jewelers passed on to shoppers.
The graph below compares jewelry supplier prices (red line) with jewelry retail prices (blue line) since the beginning of 2014. Prices bounced around in 2014, but have been steady in 2015.
Our outlook calls for continued price stability, at least until underlying commodity prices bottom. There seems to be no consensus forecast for the future of prices for gold, silver, and platinum, so it is not possible to predict when inflation will return to the US jewelry industry.
Jewelry Supplier Prices Holding Firm
Despite a continuing decline in underlying jewelry commodity prices, suppliers have not reduced – or raised – their prices for several months, as the graph below illustrates....
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