Japan Wholesale Inflation Hits 13-Year High, Squeezing Corporate Profits

Japan Wholesale Inflation Hits 13-Year High, Squeezing Corporate Profits
People wearing protective masks are reflected in the mirror at a shopping mall in Tokyo amid the coronavirus disease outbreak in Tokyo, Japan on Aug. 19, 2021. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

TOKYO—Japan’s wholesale inflation hit a 13-year high in September as rising global commodity prices and a weak yen pushed up import costs, putting pressure on corporate margins and raising the risk of unwanted consumer price hikes.

Rising input costs are adding strain for manufacturers already hit by supply constraints and clouding the outlook for the world’s third-largest economy, which relies on exports to cushion the blow from soft consumption, analysts say.