Japan sees upbeat service prices as advertising, freight fees jump

Japan posted an increase in its service prices, jumping for two consecutive months ended April as advertising and freight fees advanced. Wednesday’s data indicated that the country’s economy was slowly recovering from the coronavirus pandemic’s initial drag.

The services producer price index recorded an annualized expansion of 1.0% in April, data from the Bank of Japan showed. The upbeat reading, which was from fuel costs and the base effect of the previous year’s sharp contraction, came larger than the 0.7% growth seen in March.

The country’s property rent and advertising fees also jumped in April, and this was attributed to last year’s coronavirus-driven plunge. While Japan’s economy decelerated in the first quarter, analysts still expect a modest recovery in the current quarter as virus-related measures dragged consumption.