China consumer prices edge up to six-month high in Aug
Consumer inflation on the mainland ticked up slightly in August to a six-month high, official data showed on Monday, but the reading missed expectations. The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent year-on-year for the month, up slightly from 0.5 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The figure was the best since February but it was less than a 0.7 percent increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Extreme weather this summer from deadly floods to scorching heat has pushed up farm produce prices, contributing to faster inflation. "Higher CPI in August was due to high temperatures and rainy weather," NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said in a statement. Food prices jumped 2.8 percent on year in August from an unchanged outcome in July, while non-food inflation was 0.2 percent, easing from 0.7 percent in July. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, was 0.3 percent in August, down from 0.4 percent in July. The consumer inflation gauge was up 0.4 percent month-on-month, compared with a 0.5 percent increase in July and missing economists' expectations of a 0.5 percent gain. Meanwhile, the producer price index in August slid 1.8 percent from a year earlier, the largest fall in four months. That was worse than a 0.8 percent decline in July and below a forecast 1.4 percent fall. Mainland officials have ramped up support measures for the private sector recently in a bid to stimulate activity and spur on household consumption. Beijing has said it wants annual economic growth this year of around five percent. (AFP/Reuters)