Portugal Inflation Accelerates To 5-Month High; Industrial Production Falls

(RTTNews) - Portugal's consumer price inflation increased at the end of the year to the highest level in five months, a preliminary report from Statistics Portugal showed on Monday.

Separate official data showed that industrial production decreased for the first time in three months in November.

Consumer price inflation climbed to 3.0 percent in December from 2.5 percent in November.

Further, this was the highest inflation since May, when prices had risen 3.1 percent.

Core inflation that excludes energy and unprocessed food products also increased to 2.8 percent in December from 2.6 percent in the prior month.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent in December, reversing a 0.2 percent decrease in the previous month.

EU-harmonized inflation accelerated to 3.1 percent from 2.7 percent in November.

An average variation over the last twelve months is estimated at 2.4 percent, the agency said.

Detailed figures will be published by the statistical office on January 13.

Industrial production dropped 2.1 percent annually in November, in contrast to a 4.7 percent growth in October.

Energy output alone plunged by 10.9 percent from last year, and that of capital goods slid by 5.1 percent. On the other hand, intermediate goods production grew 1.5 percent.

Excluding energy grouping, industrial output showed a fall of 0.8 percent. Manufacturing industries managed to expand by 0.3 percent.

During November, retail sales in the country grew 5.8 percent from last year, following a 5.7 percent rise a month ago. Both sales of food and non-food products surged by 6.5 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.