Producer price indices for services, Q2 2012

Of other business activities concerning professional, scientific and technical activities, both civil engineering and technical testing and analysis also had an increase in their prices. From the 2nd quarter of 2011 to the 2nd quarter of 2012, civil engineering prices rose by 3.4 per cent, while prices in technical testing and analysis had an increase of 2.1 per cent in the same period.

Strong price growth for legal activities

From the 2nd quarter of 2011 to the 2nd quarter of 2012, legal and accounting and auditing activities experienced the biggest increase in prices since the 2nd quarter of 2009. Legal activities had the largest growth, with prices 4.6 per cent higher than a year ago. Prices for accounting and auditing activities grew by 4.1 per cent.

Small drop in prices for business consultancy activities

The prices for business consultancy activities decreased by 0.8 per cent from the 2nd quarter of 2011 to the 2nd quarter of 2012. Although the yearly price growth has been low before, this is the first quarter the prices have decreased. Prices for advertising services in the 2nd quarter of 2012 were nearly at the same level as in the 2nd quarter of 2011. Only a small increase of 0.2 per cent separates the prices for the two quarters.

Price growth for administrative and support service activities

Employment activities, car rental and cleaning activities all had price increases between 2 and 3 per cent from the 2nd quarter of 2011 to the 2nd quarter of 2012. Cleaning activities rose by 2.9 per cent, while prices in employment activities went up 2.1 per cent. The prices for car rental rose by 2.4 per cent, which was the first increase since the 1st quarter of 2010.