- Prices paid to Canadian producers for goods and services rose more than expected in January
- Canadian companies paid a little less for raw materials thanks to a drop in crude energy prices
- Data from Statistics Canada reported that its industrial product price index rose by 0.4 per cent in January from December on higher prices for refined petroleum energy products
Prices paid to Canadian producers for goods and services rose more than expected in January.
Could this be a warning sign that this recent speedbump in inflation has begun to stall?
After sustaining declines over the last two months, producer prices in Canada nudged higher in the first month of the new year.
However, Canadian companies paid a little less for raw materials thanks to a drop in crude energy prices.
Data from Statistics Canada released on Friday reported that its industrial product price index, which tracks the prices businesses receive for their goods and services, rose by 0.4 per cent in January from December. This bump was attributed to higher prices for refined petroleum energy products, as well as primary non-ferrous metal products.
The increase followed an upwardly revised 0.9 per cent decrease in December. Raw materials prices were down 0.1 per cent in January and were up 1.2 per cent on the year.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., prices for producers of goods and services also rose more than expected in January. Still, import prices dropped for a seventh straight month, with declining costs for energy products, leading to the smallest annual increase in imported inflation since late 2020.
The U.S. Labor Department said that after slipping 0.1 per cent in December, import prices fell 0.2 per cent last month.
Frequently regarded as a leading indicator of where consumer inflation is headed, the latest producer price figure follows a run of recent economic data, including jobs growth, inflation, and retail sales, which were stronger at the start of this year than markets expected.