BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone producer prices posted a year-on-year slowdown in December but remained higher than expected in part due to a rise in consumer durables, Eurostat data showed on Friday.
Producer prices in the monetary bloc increased in December by 1.1% month on month, but their year-on-year increase slowed to 24.6% after 27.0% in November.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to fall 0.4% month-on-month in December and decelerate year-on-year to 22.5%.
Energy costs, which rose 2.5% month-on-month and 48.6% year-on-year, remained the main driver of producer price increases.
Excluding energy, producer prices in December fell 0.1% over one month, while the year-on-year slowdown was 12.3%, after 13.2% in November.
The only component of the index that posted both a monthly and annual increase was the price of durable consumer goods, which rose 0.4% in December compared to November. Over one year, their growth stood at 9.7%, against an increase of 9.5% in November.
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(Report Jan Strupczewski; French version Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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