New Zealand’s (NZ) annual inflation accelerated to 7.3 percent in June, reaching a new 32-year high and surpassing market expectations.
According to Stats NZ, the increase was led by housing costs, with an 18 percent jump in construction prices and a 4.3 percent increase in rentals for housing.
“Supply chain issues, labour costs, and higher demand have continued to push up the cost of building a new house,” Stats NZ general manager Jason Attewell said.
The next largest contributor was transport costs due to petrol and diesel. Petrol rose 32 percent in the year to the June quarter and diesel prices increased 74 percent over the same period….