Industrial Product and Raw Materials Price Indexes, May 2008

(Statistics Canada)

Petroleum prices increased substantially for a third consecutive month in May, driving up the indexes for manufactured goods and raw materials prices. However, if energy products were excluded, the price movement for both those indexes would have been negative.

From April to May, prices charged by manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), rose 0.6%, down from the 1.6% increase in April. May’s increase was almost entirely attributable to petroleum and coal products, which continued their upward climb with an increase of 8.2%, similar to the rate recorded in the previous two months.

Prices for other IPPI products, with the exception of energy, declined 0.5%, their first decrease after five straight monthly increases. Among non-energy products, 13 major groups out of a total of 20 posted declines, led by primary metal products as well as motor vehicles and other transport equipment. Summary statistics and a link to the data file can be found here.