The Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) advanced 0.3% in March, while the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) jumped 12.1% over its February figure. On an annual basis, the IPPI was down 0.1% from 12 months ago.

The raw materials price index jumped almost entirely based on climbing prices for mineral fuels, the report stated.

Economists had been expecting a 2.0% month-over-month increase in raw material prices and a 0.5% gain in industrial product prices.

The Canadian dollar lost 20.8% of its value from March 2008, which had a direct effect on the IPPI. If the effect of the exchange rate was excluded, the IPPI would have been down 0.1% annually, StatsCan noted.

By Megan Ainscow, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Stephen Huebl, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

CEP Newswires - CEP News © 2009. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.ca

The Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News.

A copy of CEP News disclaimer can be found at http://www.economicnews.ca/cepnews/wire/disclaimer.