LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Chinese consumer prices eased slightly in December, although food inflation remained at elevated levels.
The consumer price index rose 4.1% in December compared to a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday, with the result close to a 4.0% gain tipped by a Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts.
In November, the CPI had risen 4.2% from the year-ago month,china Jerseys Wholesale marking a sharp cooling from October’s 5.5% increase.
Food prices again led the rise, jumping 9.1% in December from the year-earlier period.
Compared to November, the consumer price index was 0.3% higher, putting CPI inflation for all of 2011 at 5.4%, the bureau said.
Producer prices were up 1.7% year-on-year, just above a 1.6% Dow Jones Newswires forecast, with the index falling 0.3% on a month-on-month basis.
In November, the producer price index rose 2.7% from the year-earlier period.