- PPI +0.2% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- Prior +0.6%; revised to +0.7%
- PPI +5.9% vs +5.7% y/y expected
- Prior +4.9%; revised to +5.0%
Producer prices in the euro area moved up slightly in May and that comes despite a drop in energy prices for the month. If excluding energy, producer prices were actually up 0.7% in May. The breakdown is as per the following:
- Prices for intermediate goods +1.4%
- Prices for capital goods +0.2%
- Energy prices -1.0%
- Prices for durable consumer goods +0.3%
- Prices for non-durable consumer goods -0.1%
Despite the monthly drop in energy prices, the annual estimate continues to show that the level has gone up significantly compared to May last year. Energy prices in May this year are up 14% compared to that a year ago. And that’s the main reason for the marked increase in terms of the annual estimate.
If you exclude energy prices from that calculation, producer prices were only up 2.8% in May this year compared to the same month last year.
In any case, the broader jump in producer prices across different segments may be a bit worrying if the trend continues into the summer. That may eventually spill over to consumer prices and will inherently be a concern for the ECB.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.
