Japan’s producer price inflation accelerates to 7.1%

Japan’s corporate goods price index rose 7.1% in the year to October, accelerating from 6.8% in September and exceeding the 6.5% median forecast, according to Bank of Japan data released Thursday. The figures show renewed pressure on prices paid between companies as higher costs for fuel, chemicals and other goods filter through the economy.

The index measures prices companies charge one another for goods and services. Officials said firms continued to pass on higher labor and raw-material costs, alongside increased oil and chemical prices. Petroleum and coal goods prices rose 15.9% year over year in October, compared with 11.5% in September; chemical goods prices climbed 15.5%, up from 13.4%.

Prices for transportation equipment, including automobile parts, increased 3.2%, compared with 2.9% the previous month. The reporting attributed some of that rise to demand related to artificial intelligence, which has lifted semiconductor-chip prices. The yen-based import price index was up 24.8% from a year earlier, adding to evidence that currency weakness has raised the cost of imported materials.

The producer-price figures come as economists expect consumer inflation to remain above...