Lumber Prices (Producer Price Index)
The Producer Price Index for lumber (BLS commodity index WPU0811, 1982=100), monthly back to 1947 — the longest free lumber price record. The viral "lumber price" charts quote CME lumber futures, which have no freely redistributable history; the PPI is the mill-level price the BLS actually surveys, and it tracked the 2021-22 futures spike and collapse closely.
Lumber PPI (1982=100)
- YoY %
- 11.8%
Next release: Oct 15, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 2026, Lumber (Lumber PPI (1982=100)) stands at 294.9 — down from 300.5 the prior reading, 49% below the May 2021 record of 581.5. Lumber is the classic housing-cycle input: mill prices respond to single-family construction demand faster than almost any housing statistic. The 2021 episode — the index roughly doubling in a year, then round-tripping — showed both its violence and its mean reversion; mills can restart faster than homebuyers can return. Read it alongside housing starts and builder activity: a sustained lumber rally usually means construction demand is real. Series history runs from 1947 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-18 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Index level (1982=100)
Year-over-year %
The annual change in the lumber PPI. The 2021 spike — driven by pandemic construction demand against curtailed mill capacity — peaked near +100% YoY, the sharpest print in the 75-year record.
Methodology & data
Lumber is sourced from BLS via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BLS via FRED (WPU0811), monthly, index 1982=100, not seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-09-18. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Lumber Prices (Producer Price Index)?
The Producer Price Index for lumber (BLS commodity index WPU0811, 1982=100), monthly back to 1947 — the longest free lumber price record. The viral "lumber price" charts quote CME lumber futures, which have no freely redistributable history; the PPI is the mill-level price the BLS actually surveys, and it tracked the 2021-22 futures spike and collapse closely.
How do you read Lumber?
Lumber is the classic housing-cycle input: mill prices respond to single-family construction demand faster than almost any housing statistic. The 2021 episode — the index roughly doubling in a year, then round-tripping — showed both its violence and its mean reversion; mills can restart faster than homebuyers can return. Read it alongside housing starts and builder activity: a sustained lumber rally usually means construction demand is real.
Where does the Lumber data come from?
BLS via FRED (WPU0811), monthly, index 1982=100, not seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/lumber-price.csv.
How often is Lumber updated?
Lumber is a monthly series from BLS, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Lumber PPI (1982=100)
- YoY %
- 11.8%
Next release: Oct 15, 2026