BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Euro zone producer prices
decelerated year-on-year in December, but were still higher than
expected, data showed on Friday, partially because of more
expensive durable consumer goods.
Prices at factory gates in the 19 countries sharing the euro
in December rose 1.1% month-on-month for a 24.6% year-on-year
increase, slowing down from 27.0% year-on-year in November.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected a monthly fall in
prices of 0.4% and a year-on-year deceleration to 22.5%.
More expensive energy was still the main driving force
behind the higher producer prices, rising 2.5% month-on-month
and 48.6% year-on-year as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues
to create supply problems.
Without the volatile energy component, producer prices were
down 0.1% month-on-month and rose 12.3% year-on-year,
decelerating form 13.2% year-on-year in November.
The only component of the index that showed both a monthly
and an annual rise was prices of durable consumer goods which
went up 0.4% in December against November and were 9.7% higher
than in December of 2021, compared to a 9.5% rise in November.
Producer prices are an early signal of inflationary trends
because their changes are usually transferred onto final
consumers. Consumer inflation in January slowed to 8.5% from
9.2% in November. The European Central Bank wants to keep
inflation at 2.0% and has been raising interest rates
aggressivley to curb price growth quickly.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)
Messaging: jan.strupczewski.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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