The prices charged by euro-zone factories for their goods rose sharply in August, mainly due to higher energy costs, a development that could raise concern at the European Central Bank whose governing board meets Thursday to announce its latest decision on interest rates.
Rising factory prices could add to the upward pressure on consumer price inflation, the ECB's targeted measure.
An official estimate last week showed annual growth in consumer prices accelerated to 2.7% in September from 2.6% in August, significantly higher than the ECB's target of a little under 2%.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said producer prices in August rose 0.9% in August from July.
The last time prices rose at a faster rate was in January 2011. In August compared with the same month last year, producer prices rose 2.7%, sharply higher than July's 1.6% rate.
The rise was chiefly due to higher prices charged by power stations and refineries for their output, a Eurostat spokeswoman said, following increases in global energy prices.
Persistently higher inflation could push some members of the ECB, such as Germany, to oppose a further cut to its record low interest rate of 0.75%, or other action by the bank to stimulate the economy.
That in turn would be likely to make life harder for the struggling southern economies at the heart of the euro-zone debt crisis.
ECB Governor Mario Draghi in early September said inflation might be higher in coming months than the bank had previously expected, due to energy price increases, but should drop below the 2% target some time next year.
wsj.com
Rising factory prices could add to the upward pressure on consumer price inflation, the ECB's targeted measure.
An official estimate last week showed annual growth in consumer prices accelerated to 2.7% in September from 2.6% in August, significantly higher than the ECB's target of a little under 2%.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said producer prices in August rose 0.9% in August from July.
The last time prices rose at a faster rate was in January 2011. In August compared with the same month last year, producer prices rose 2.7%, sharply higher than July's 1.6% rate.
The rise was chiefly due to higher prices charged by power stations and refineries for their output, a Eurostat spokeswoman said, following increases in global energy prices.
Persistently higher inflation could push some members of the ECB, such as Germany, to oppose a further cut to its record low interest rate of 0.75%, or other action by the bank to stimulate the economy.
That in turn would be likely to make life harder for the struggling southern economies at the heart of the euro-zone debt crisis.
ECB Governor Mario Draghi in early September said inflation might be higher in coming months than the bank had previously expected, due to energy price increases, but should drop below the 2% target some time next year.
wsj.com
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