Producer prices, a measure of inflation at the wholesale rather than retail level, climbed in the last three months of 2000.
Firms' output prices rose 2.2 per cent in the quarter, making 7 per cent for the year.
But the cost of their inputs rose even more - 3.6 per cent in the quarter, making 10.2 per cent for the year.
Though the inputs index does not include all costs (wages, ACC levels and local body rates are excluded, for example), such a gap between input and output prices suggests a squeeze on firms' profit margins.
Producer prices rise
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