Producer prices up 1 percent
Producer prices rose 1 percent year-on-year in November, pushed higher by an increase in costs for energy and durable consumer goods compared to the same period last year in an upward trend likely to continue in the coming months, according to data released yesterday. Data from the National Statistical Service (NSS) showed that the index, which measures price changes of goods and services at a wholesale level, posted its first annual increase since November 2008. The 12-month average annual pace of producer price inflation fell to -6.5 percent, versus -6.6 percent in October. «The annual rate of change of the PPI is expected to accelerate over the next months. But it will remain below its five-year average because weak demand curbs the prices of non-durables, consumer durables and intermediate goods,» National Bank economist Nikos Magginas told Reuters. «The upward trend in the PPI is expected to gradually apply some upward pressure on consumer prices after the second quarter of 2010.»
