OTTAWA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Canadian producer prices slipped
in December for the fifth month in a row, driven mainly by lower
prices for energy and petroleum products, data from Statistics
Canada showed on Friday.
Prices were down 0.2 percent, a touch shy of economists'
expectations for a decline of 0.3 percent. Since July, the index
has lost 1.7 percent.
Energy and petroleum products slumped 5.4 percent, the
largest decrease since last January when the drop in crude oil
prices was accelerating. Excluding this sector, producer prices
were up 0.6 percent.
A 2.1 percent increase in prices for motorized and
recreational vehicles helped moderate the decline in the overall
index. Higher prices in the sector were linked to the drop in
the Canadian dollar against its U.S. counterpart.
Lower prices for crude energy products also weighed on the
raw materials price index, which tumbled 5.0 percent, steeper
than the 4.0 percent decline that had been forecast.