5th May 2014 09:20
VIENNA (Alliance News) - Eurozone producer prices continued to decline in March, albeit at a slightly slower pace, adding to concerns of deflation taking hold in the currency bloc figures from Eurostat showed Monday.
Industrial producer prices dropped 1.6% year-on-year, after a 1.7% fall in February, which was the biggest decrease since December 2009. Economists had forecast the pace of decline to remain unchanged.
Producer prices fell 4.3% annually in the energy sector and 1.9% for intermediate goods. They rose 0.3% for capital goods, 0.5% for non-durable consumer goods and 0.8% for durable consumer goods.
Excluding energy, prices in total industry fell 0.5% from the same month last year.
Month-on-month, producer prices fell 0.2% in March, same as in February. Economists were looking for a 0.3% drop. Prices excluding energy were unchanged.
In EU 28, producer prices declined 1.6% annually in March, same as in February. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.3%, following a 0.1% fall in the previous month, which was revised from a 0.2% drop.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX