Euro zone producer prices fall for fifth straight month in Feb

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone producer prices fell for a fifth consecutive month and by more than expected in February, almost entirely due to declining energy prices.

EU statistics office Eurostat said on Tuesday that prices at factory gates in the 20 countries sharing the euro declined by 0.5% month-on-month in February for a 13.2% year-on-year increase.

This marks a steady deceleration from the 43.4% peak in August, when energy prices were more than twice their level a year earlier.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a monthly fall in prices of 0.3% and a year-on-year deceleration to 13.3%.

The energy component dropped by 1.6%, although was still up 17.4% from a year earlier, when Russias invaded Ukraine.

Without volatile energy, producer prices were 0.2% higher month-on-month and up 10.2% year-on-year.

Producer prices are an early signal of inflationary trends because their changes are usually transferred onto final consumers.

Consumer inflation dropped by the most on record to 6.3% in March, but underlying inflation hit a new all-time high. The European Central Bank wants to keep inflation at 2.0% and has been raising interest rates repeatedly to curb price growth.