The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released Producer Price Index (PPI) data for the March quarter, which registered a 0.5% quarterly rise in final (stage 3) prices and an increase of only 1.3% over the year:
The 0.5% rise in final (stage 3) prices was driven primarily by rises in the prices received for Electricity supply, gas supply; and water supply, sewerage and drainage services (+2.9%), Building construction (+0.5%) and Petroleum refining and petroleum fuel manufacturing (+6.8%), partly offset by falls in the prices received for Specialised machinery and equipment manufacturing (-2.6%), Motor vehicle and motor vehicle part manufacturing (-0.8%) and Commercial fishing (-17.6%).