Eurostat, the statistical office of
the European Union (EU), reported on Monday that industrial producer prices increased
0.7 percent m-o-m in the Eurozone in May, following an unrevised 1.2 percent
m-o-m gain in April.
This represented the weakest monthly increase since February 2021 (+0.5 percent
m-o-m) and was below economists’ prediction of a 1.0 percent m-o-m advance.
According to the report, the energy
sector (-0.2 percent m-o-m) was the only sector that recorded a decline in producer
prices in May. Meanwhile, producer prices for intermediate goods (+1.7 percent
m-o-m) increased the most. They were followed by producer prices for non-durable
consumer goods (+1.3 percent m-o-m), durable consumer goods (+0.9 percent
m-o-m), and capital goods (+0.6 percent m-o-m). Excluding energy, producer
prices rose 1.3 percent m-o-m in May.
In y-o-y terms, Eurozone’s producer
price index (PPI) surged 36.3 percent in May, following an unrevised 37.2
percent jump in April. This marked
the weakest annual increase in three months. Economists had projected a 36.7
percent surge for May.