According to Statistics Canada, the Machinery and Equipment Price Index (MEPI) increased 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter, following a 5.3 percent gain in the third quarter. The import component was up 2.3 percent, while the domestic component rose 0.7 percent.
All industries posted increases in the prices of machinery and equipment purchased in the fourth quarter. The largest contributor to the quarterly gain in the MEPI was the finance, insurance and real estate industry (+2.4 percent). The transportation and warehousing industry (+2.1 percent) and the mines, quarries and oil wells industry (+1.6 percent) also contributed to the quarterly price increase.
Among commodities, logging, mining and construction machinery and equipment (+1.6 percent) and passenger cars (+4.0 percent) contributed most to the quarterly increase in the total MEPI. Computers and computer peripheral equipment (+1.2 percent), other industry-specific machinery (+1.8 percent), aircraft and aircraft engines (+1.9 percent) and commercial and service industry machinery (+1.7 percent) also contributed to the quarterly gain.
The total MEPI increased 14.9 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the same quarter in 2014. This was the fourth consecutive double-digit year-over-year increase. The gain in the fourth quarter reflected large quarterly price increases in the first and third quarters of 2015. The purchase price of machinery and equipment has increased year over year every quarter since the fourth quarter of 2012.
The import component increased 17.9 percent, and the domestic component was up 6.1 percent. The movement in the import component was partly influenced by the year-over-year depreciation of the Canadian dollar (-14.9 percent) against the US dollar.