Machinery and Equipment Price Index, third quarter 2015
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Released: 2015-11-25
The Machinery and Equipment Price Index (MEPI) increased 5.4% in the third quarter, following a 0.8% decrease in the second quarter. The import component was up 6.4% over the period, while the domestic component rose 2.4%.
Prices of imported machinery and equipment are reported in US dollars and are converted to Canadian dollars. Consequently, any change in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar will affect the level of the index. The Canadian dollar depreciated 6.1% relative to the US dollar in the third quarter compared with the second quarter.
All industries posted increases in the prices of machinery and equipment purchased in the third quarter. The largest contributor to the quarterly gain was the finance, insurance and real estate industry (+5.7%). The transportation and warehousing industry (+6.1%) and all manufacturing industry (+5.4%) also contributed to the quarterly increase.
Among commodities, computers and computer peripheral equipment (+5.9%) contributed the most to the quarterly increases of the total MEPI. Logging, mining and construction machinery and equipment (+4.3%), other industry-specific machinery (+6.0%), aircraft and aircraft engines (+6.6%) and commercial and service industry machinery (+5.8%) also contributed to the quarterly gain.
Year-over-year change
The total MEPI increased 17.3% in the third quarter compared with the same quarter of 2014, reflecting large quarterly price increases in the first and third quarters of 2015. The import component increased 20.7% and the domestic component was up 7.5%. The movement in the import component was partly influenced by the year-over-year depreciation of the Canadian dollar (-16.8%) against the US dollar. This was the largest year-over-year depreciation of the Canadian dollar since the first quarter of 2009.
Note to readers
The Machinery and Equipment Price Index (MEPI) provides quarterly estimates of price changes for machinery and equipment purchased by industries in Canada.
Data are available at the Canada level only.
The conversion of prices received in US dollars is based on the average monthly exchange rate (noon spot rate) established by the Bank of Canada, which is available in CANSIM table 176-0064 (series v37426). Quarterly and annual variations in the exchange rate, as described in the release, are calculated according to the indirect quotation of the exchange rate (for example, CAN$1 = US$X).
The contribution of a given sub-aggregate to the composite price change depends on both the price change exhibited by the sub-aggregate and on its importance in the basket, as measured by the weight.
With each release, data for the previous two quarters may have been revised. This index is not seasonally adjusted.
Next release
The MEPI for the fourth quarter of 2015 will be released on February 24, 2016.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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