US Jewelry Retail Prices Drift Lower in April

Retail prices for fine jewelry and watches in the US market slipped lower in April 2015, when compared to the same month of the prior year. This is the 17th consecutive month that retail prices have dropped on a year-to-year basis. However, jewelry suppliers’ prices edged slightly higher for the first time in 20 months. On a month-to-month basis – April compared to March – jewelry prices at both the retail and supplier levels in April were roughly flat.

·         The Jewelry Producer Price Index (JPPI) was 199.6 for April, reflecting slight price inflation from March’s index of 198.7, a gain of nine-tenths of 1 percent. On a year-to-year basis, the JPPI was up for the first time since mid-2013 by two-tenths of 1 percent. While jewelry commodity prices remain low, labor costs and currency exchange rates have negatively affected some suppliers’ prices.

·         The Jewelry Consumer Price Index (JCPI) was 158.8 in April, a decline of 1 and two-tenths of a percent from March’s 160.1. It is also a decline from February’s 160.4 and January’s 160.3. In short, jewelry retail prices appear to have slipped slightly in the first four months of 2015. On a year-to-year basis, the JCPI was down 2.2 percent, reflecting more price-based promotions and greater levels of discounting in jewelry stores.

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 far less volatile in 2015.