Japan's corporate service price index hits a two-decade high in December

An index measuring the prices Japanese firms charge each other for services hit a more than two-decade high in December, a sign inflationary pressure was building on rising freight costs and a rebound in demand from a pandemic-induced slump.

The services producer price index rose 1.1% in December from a year earlier, marking the 10th straight month of increases, Bank of Japan data showed on Wednesday. The level of the index, at 106.0, was the highest since July 2001.

The increase was driven by rising transportation costs with ocean freight fees spiking 38.6% in December from a year ago, the