Thanks to the weak US$, rising commodity prices and growing wage inflation in China, April import prices rose 2.2% m/o/m and are now up 11.1% y/o/y vs expectations of 1.8% and 10.4% respectively. It’s not just food and energy too as ex that prices were up .5% m/o/m led by a 5% rise in the cost of imported industrial supplies. Import prices from China rose .4% after a .6% gain in March and is up 2.8% y/o/y as the days of importing deflation from China is over. This data highlights clearly the inflationary implications of a weak US$ when we have a trade deficit as large as ours. The weak US$ certainly helps the export side in terms of competitiveness and revenues but we import a lot more than we export at an ever growing cost.
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