The preliminary value for the January CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) represents a gain from the last reading of 2016. With that, the annual CEPCI number for 2016 was calculated to be 541.7, using the average of the monthly values from the year. The annual value is lower than the corresponding value from 2015, and continues a downward trend in annual numbers since the most recent peak in 2011. However, the preliminary monthly CEPCI number for January 2017 stands at 3.1% higher than the corresponding value from January 2016. Meanwhile, the latest Current Business Indicators (CBI) for February 2017 saw an increase in the CPI Output Index and a small decrease in the Productivity Index.
Current economic trends: CEPCI January (prelim.) and December (final)
| By Scott Jenkins