The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand fell 0.1% in August , after a sharp 0.7% increase in July and a modest 0.1% gain in June . On a year-over-year basis, PPI rose 2.6% , while core PPI (excluding food, energy, and trade services) increased 0.3% in August , marking the fourth consecutive monthly rise and a 2.8% annual increase —the highest since March 2025. At first glance, the decline may suggest relief. But when examined sector by sector, the structural cost shift is still very much in play—hidden cost pressures continue to weigh on the businesses least able to absorb them. Structural Cost Shift: Masked by Averages A structural cost shift occurs when price declines in non-essential categories obscure the rising cost of essentials—food, housing, energy, transportation, and healthcare. This disproportionately affects Black and minority-owned businesses, which: Operate with slimmer margins and less access to affordable ...
The first Friday of the month has rolled around, which means the Bureau of Labor Statistics has released their anticipatory national unemployment numbers. Now, we were prepared to take these numbers with a grain of salt, but they appear to be on point (as far as we can tell.) As predicted , the Black unemployment numbers not only remain steady through August but rose significantly — a jump worth taking note of. We at Creative Investment Research predicted the overall Black employment rate would be up to 7.3%, however, the rate jumped to 7.5%. For Black men we were on target, correctly predicting a whopping 7.1%, which went up from last month’s 7.0%. This roughly translates to an additional 30,000 unemployed Black men. Then there’s the ever-concerning Black women unemployment rate that we predicted to be 6.4% but leapt to 6.7%. This amounts to approximately 45,000 more Black women left without a job during the final months of summer.