20 Feb 2012

Producers' input and output prices rise

12:56 pm on 20 February 2012

Rising dairy prices nudged up New Zealand's producers' input and output prices in the final three months of last year but inflation pressures remain subdued.

Producers' input prices - a measure of wholesale inflation - rose 0.5% in the final three months of 2011. It was the ninth quarterly increase but the lowest in two years.

Output prices, which measure what producers are paid for their products, rose 0.1%, the eighth consecutive increase, but the smallest in two years.

Both indices were driven by higher dairy prices, while rising mining sector prices pushed up output prices. A fall in power prices helped to keep a lid on input prices.

Meanwhile, separate statistics show the Capital Goods Price Index rose 0.4% in the quarter led by price increases for construction, plant, machinery and equipment and house building.