Bogey-man awaking

15 December 2009 By Martin Hutchinson

After falling early in 2009, global consumer prices have resumed rising, pushed up by commodities. If the global economy recovers, labor markets strengthen and commodity prices stay strong, inflation could quickly force monetary policymakers into a difficult choice.

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The U.S. producer price index (PPI) for finished goods rose 1.8 percent in November, the U.S. Labor Department said on Dec. 15. The PPI for intermediate goods rose 1.4 percent and that for crude goods rose 5.7 percent. Over the last year, the PPI for finished goods has risen 2.4 percent.

The euro zone's consumer price index rose by 0.3 percent in November, based on the flash estimate, bringing it to a level 0.6 percent above where it stood a year earlier.
Japan's consumer price index fell 0.4 percent in October and 2.6 percent in the year to October.

Britain's consumer price index rose 0.3 percent in November and was 1.9 percent above the previous year.

China's consumer price index rose 0.3 percent in November, its producer price index 0.6 percent. The CPI was up 0.6 percent yearonyear, while the PPI was down 2.1 percent yearonyear.

The ReutersCRB Continuous Commodity Index closed Dec. 14 at 480.03, up 39 percent from the previous year. The dollar's tradeweighted index was down 9.1 percent over the same period.

Correction: An earlier version of this piece misstated Chinese inflation figures.

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