Eurozone Producer Prices Fall For First Time In 6 Months

(RTTNews) - Eurozone producer prices declined for the first time in six months in March due to the fall in energy prices, data from Eurostat showed on Tuesday.

Producer prices fell 1.6 percent month-on-month in March, in contrast to the 0.2 percent rise in February. This was the first fall since September. Prices were expected to fall 1.4 percent in March.

Excluding energy, producer prices grew at a marginal pace of 0.1 percent following a 0.3 percent rise in February. Within overall PPI, energy prices decreased 5.8 percent in March. Meanwhile, prices of durable and non-durable consumer goods gained 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Capital goods prices rose only 0.1 percent and intermediate goods prices remained flat from a month ago.

On a yearly basis, producer price inflation eased to 1.9 percent from 3.0 percent in February. Economists had forecast prices to rise 2.0 percent.