Japan’s Wholesale Inflation Accelerates to 3-Year Peak as Energy Costs Rise

Rising price pressures could strengthen expectations of further Bank of Japan rate increases.

Workers sort fish after a fishing operation at Matsukawaura fishing port in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, on April 12, 2021. Kyodo/Reuters

Japan’s wholesale inflation accelerated in May to its fastest pace in more than three years as higher energy costs rippled through the economy.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) data released on June 10 show that the measure of prices companies charge one another for goods and services rose 6.3 percent in May from a year earlier.