Japan's consumer prices rose by 0.1% yoy in October 2021, slowing from a 0.2% gain a month earlier. Inflation mainly slowed for food (0.5 % vs 0.9% in September), furniture and household utensils (0.9% vs 1.7%), and education (1.1% vs 1.2%). At the same time, cost declined at a faster rate for both transportation & communication (-7.5% vs -6.4%) and medical care (-0.3% vs -0.2%). In contrast, inflation was unchanged for both housing (at 0.7%) and miscellaneous (at 1.2%), while prices accelerated for both fuel, light, and water charges (6.4% vs 4.4%) and culture & recreation (4.3% vs 3.3%). Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, went up at 0.1% yoy in October, the same as in September, also advancing for the second month running, amid a surge in prices of energy and raw materials, but still far below the Bank of Japan's 2% target. On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped by 0.3%, swinging from a 0.4% gain in September
Japan's wholesale inflation hits 40-year high as fuel costs spike
nov 11 (Reuters) - Japan's wholesale inflation hit a four-decade high in October, following a similar spike in China's factory gate prices as supply bottlenecks and rising commodity costs threatened Asian corporate profits.
The rising cost pressures, coupled with a weak yen that inflates the price of imported goods, adds to pain for the world's third-largest economy as it emerges from the consumer slump caused by the pandemic.
"Rising costs are certainly negative for corporate profits," said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Economic Research Institute. "If the economy continues to recover, firms may be able to pass on costs (to consumers) at some point," he said.
The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the prices companies charge each other for their goods and services, surged 8.0% in October from a year earlier, exceeding market expectations for a 7.0% gain, Bank of Japan data showed on Thursday.
https://www.reuters.com/business/japans-wholesale-inflation-hits-40-year-high-fuel-costs-spike-2021-11-11/