Canadian producer prices in December took their biggest fall since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, hurt by the cheaper cost of energy and petroleum products, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.
The industrial product price index fell 1.6% in December, a steeper decline than economists’ expectations of 0.5% and its fourth monthly decrease in a row.
This was the biggest monthly drop for the index since a 2.6% decrease in December, 2008, the agency said. Prices fell 0.5% from a year earlier, and November’s figures were revised down to a decline of 0.5%.
Prices for energy and petroleum products slumped 11.5%, led by a sharp decline in motor gasoline.
