WASHINGTON - eTradeWire -- Creative Investment Research released an analysis of the May 2025 Producer Price Index (PPI) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, warning that the modest reported increase of 0.1% in wholesale prices fails to reflect the true pressure faced by Black and minority-owned businesses.

While the BLS report suggests cooling price trends—with a 2.6% year-over-year rise, up slightly from April—closer inspection reveals a sectoral shift in inflation that disproportionately harms entrepreneurs of color, especially in construction, wholesale trade, and food services.

"The May PPI data presents a picture of stability, but for Black-owned businesses, the reality is quite different," said William Michael Cunningham, economist and founder of Creative Investment Research. "When you break the data down by industry, price pressures remain acute, especially in sectors with high minority business concentration."

📊 Sectoral Breakdown and Impact

• Retail & Wholesale Trade: Up 0.4%, squeezing minority-owned retailers and suppliers already grappling with higher financing costs.
• Food & Hospitality: Up 0.2%, reflecting rising costs in prepared food manufacturing and restaurant services, which affects a core segment of Black and Latino entrepreneurs.
• Construction & Manufacturing Inputs: Up 0.3%, with price increases for key materials like primary metals and building equipment, affecting Black- and Hispanic-owned construction firms.
• Transportation & Warehousing: Down 0.2%, offering limited relief for logistics-focused firms, though many minority-owned trucking businesses continue to report higher fuel and insurance costs.
• Healthcare & Services: Up 0.2%, reflecting continued pressure on minority-run medical, wellness, and support service firms.

⚠️ Data Integrity Concerns

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This release comes amid growing concerns over the accuracy and transparency of federal inflation data. The BLS has cut price tracking in several states, reduced the number of PPI item categories by over 350, and increasingly relies on imputation rather than actual observation in calculating inflation.

"Given the unethical nature and behavior of the current administration—including DEI policy reversals and suppression of protestors—we would not be surprised if inflation data is being manipulated downward," said Cunningham. "This trend compromises the ability of policymakers and minority entrepreneurs to make informed decisions."

🔥 Economic Context

This PPI release follows the April jobs report that showed Black women lost over 106,000 jobs, confirmed by independent sources including Black Enterprise (https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-women-loss-extra-106000-jobs-april-unemployment/).

These job losses highlight a compounding crisis for minority-owned firms: rising costs, vanishing customers, and limited institutional support.

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✅ Call to Action

Creative Investment Research urges:

• Congress to audit BLS data practices and restore inflation data coverage
• Policymakers to reestablish DEI frameworks in federal economic agencies

A full breakdown of these impacts is available at https://www.impactinvesting.online/2025/06/may-2025-ppi-overview-what-this-means.html