Canada Producer Prices Rise 1.4% in November

Canadian producer prices increased in November at their fastest pace in nearly three years due to higher costs related to energy and petroleum. Meanwhile, the country's raw-materials price index also rose at a hefty pace.

Canada's industrial product price index advanced 1.4% in November, Statistics Canada said Thursday, following a 1.1% increase in the previous month. Market expectations were not immediately available. The last time the index rose at a faster pace on a month-over-month basis was in February, 2015.

The index measures the price manufacturers in Canada receive once their goods leave the plant. It doesn't reflect the final prices consumers pay for goods on store shelves.

Data released last month indicated Canada's inflation rate rose 2.1% in November.

Of the 21 commodity groups tracked for the index, 16 rose in November, while four were down and one was unchanged.

The data agency said growth in the index was largely attributed to higher prices for energy and petroleum products. This commodity group climbed 6.3% in November, or the biggest one-month gain in 18 months.

Excluding energy and petroleum products, the index rose 0.5%.

On a year-over-year basis, producer prices increased 2.7%.

As for raw materials, prices paid by manufacturers in November rose 5.5%, or the biggest one-month gain in nearly a year. The index now sits at its highest level in roughly three years, reflecting a partial recovery in commodity prices after a broad-based slump that began in mid-2014.

On a 12-month basis, prices for raw materials rose 14.2%. Canada is a net exporter of crude oil, so higher commodity prices tend to generate better terms of trade for the economy.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 04, 2018 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)