Services Producer price index rises 0.1 per cent in 2Q18

KUALA LUMPUR: The Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) rose by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18) from 1Q18, backed by the rise in main subsector activities - accommodation, food and beverage service (0.5 per cent), real estate (0.3 per cent), transportation (0.1 per cent) and health (0.1 per cent).

In its “Services Producer Price Index Second Quarter of 2018” report, the Statistics Department said the SPPI also rose by 0.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y).

“The positive growth was contributed by an increase in accommodation and food and beverage service (2.9 per cent), real estate (1.3 per cent), education (1.1 per cent), arts, entertainment and recreation (0.8 per cent) and professional (0.7 per cent),” it said.

The SPPI for transportation increased by 0.7 per cent y-o-y, due to growth in passenger air transport (2.1 per cent) and sea and coastal water transport (0.1 per cent).

Quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), the SPPI for transportation rose 0.1 per cent, driven by the growth in land transport (0.4 per cent), while accommodation and food and beverage service rose 0.5 per cent.

This was due to a 0.5 per cent increase in restaurants and mobile food service activities, and beverage serving activities.

The SPPI for information and communication for the period under review remained unchanged, while real estate activities grew 0.3 per cent q-o-q and 1.3 per cent y-o-y. — Bernama