Japan Services Producer Prices Up 1.0 Pct in May

June 26, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's services producer price index for May rose 1.0 pct from a year before, up for the 59th consecutive month, the Bank of Japan said in a preliminary report on Tuesday.

The index, which measures costs for services provided to corporate customers, stood at 104.6 against 100 for the base year of 2010, the central bank said. In April, the index was up a revised 1.0 pct.

Prices grew in a wide range of industries against a backdrop of manpower shortages.

By category, prices of road freight transport services, including door-to-door parcel delivery, climbed 3.6 pct on the back of driver shortages.

Civil engineering and construction prices went up 4.2 pct, mainly reflecting a rise in wages of workers engaged in public works projects.

Prices rose particularly in industries susceptible to labor cost increases, said an official of the BOJ's Research and Statistics Department.

Meanwhile, hotel fees fell 0.7 pct due to a bad holiday sequence during the Golden Week period from late April to early May. Jiji Press