MNI BRIEF: Japan Jan Services PPI Rises 3.1% Vs. Dec's 3.0%
MNI (TOKYO) - Japan’s services producer price index rose 3.1% y/y in January, accelerating from December’s revised 3.0%, showing that corporate pass-through of cost increases remained solid, preliminary data released by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday showed.
Transportation and postal services (+3.4% vs. 3.1%), other services, including hotels (+4.4% vs. +4.3%), and real-estate services (+2.7% vs. 2.3%) boosted January's result.
The SPPI fell 0.5% m/m after being unchanged in December.
The index of services with a high labour cost ratio rose 3.3% y/y in January, accelerating from 3.2% in December, while the index of services with a low labour cost ratio rose 3.0% y/y, also accelerating from 2.8% the prior month.
The data showed that firms are raising services prices on the back of high labour and raw materials costs and bank officials are focused on wage hikes in or after April and on their impact on retail prices to be revised afterward.