Wholesale prices rose 2.3 percent in November from a year earlier for the 45th straight monthly gain, closing in on a 10-year high as crude oil and other raw material prices continue to surge unabated, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.
The prices that companies pay for energy and raw materials, gauged by the BOJ's corporate goods price index, stood at 105.0 against a base of 100 for 2005, reaching the 105 level for the first time since January 1998, the central bank said in a preliminary report.
The 2.3 percent rise — coming after the revised 2 percent gain in October — was the fastest rise in 14 months. On a month-to-month basis, wholesale prices gained 0.2 percent in November.