Euro area producer price gains slow amid sharp fall in energy costs

Factory gate price gains slowed sharply at the end of 2018, amid a sharp decline in energy inflation.

According to Eurostat, producer prices in the Eurozone dropped at a 0.8% month-on-month clip (consensus: -0.7%), led by a 2.6% fall in energy prices.

Prices for intermediate goods also dropped versus November, by 0.4%, but those for capital and durable consumer goods rose by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.

By countries, and from among the largest economies in the single currency bloc, the biggest price declines were seen in Spain (-1.1%), France (-1.1%) and the Netherlands (-1.5%).

In comparison to a year ago, the rate of advance in producer prices slowed from 4.0% for November to 3.0% in December (consensus: 3.1%).