Portugal Inflation Eases, Industrial Output Recovers

(RTTNews) - Portugal's consumer price inflation slowed further in March, a flash report from Statistics Portugal showed on Monday.

Separate official data showed that industrial production expanded for the first time in four months in February.

Consumer price inflation softened to 1.9 percent in March from 2.4 percent in February.  

Core inflation that excludes energy and unprocessed food products also moderated to 1.9 percent in March from 2.5 percent in the prior month.

The slowdown in inflation was mainly due to a flat change in energy products compared to a 1.5 percent rise in February. Meanwhile, the annual price growth in unprocessed food products accelerated to 2.8 percent from 2.4 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices climbed 1.4 percent versus a 0.1 percent decline in the previous month.

The EU measure of inflation eased to 1.9 percent in March from 2.5 percent in the previous month.

Industrial production rose 0.9 percent yearly in February, reversing a 3.1 percent fall in January. The growth was mainly driven by a 1.8 percent rebound in the manufacturing output.

Production of intermediate goods grew 3.1 percent, while that of the energy segment declined by 3.7 percent. Excluding the energy grouping, industrial production was 1.8 percent higher.

On a monthly basis, industrial production growth eased slightly to 4.7 percent from 5.1 percent in January.

Another piece of official data showed that the country's jobless rate rose to 6.4 percent in February from 6.4 percent a month ago. The labor underutilization rate stood at 10.8 percent, the same value as the previous month.