Producer prices in Japan eased slightly in July to 7.2% year on year in July, missing analysts' expectations, official data released Thursday showed.
The PPI reading was lower compared with the 7.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters, and was down from a revised 7.3% seen in June.
Electricity prices were the largest contributor to the producer price index in July, adding 0.23 percentage point to the increase compared to June. This was partly offset by a drop in prices in energy and chemicals.
Japan has been grappling with higher energy prices that have also led to steeper overall imported inflation for businesses, with higher dollar payments further pressuring the yen.
