Japan’s Producer Inflation Tops Estimates During Rate Hike Bets

Inflation in Japan’s corporate goods prices accelerated to the fastest pace in 16 months, an outcome that points to growing inflationary pressure in the economy and supports the central bank’s further normalization of policy.

The measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 3.7% in November from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan reported Wednesday. The gain, led by agricultural products and utilities, was larger than all the estimates of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.