LONDON (MNI) – UK input prices plunged in April, taking the rate of
yearly input price inflation below that of output price inflation for
the first time since October 2009.
Input prices fell 1.5% on the month in April to stand up 1.2% on
the year, having been up 5.6% on the year in March. This vertiginous
fall in the yearly rate of input price inflation took the rate below the
3.3% yearly rise in ouput prices in April.
The 1.2% yearly rise in input prices was also the lowest since
October 2009. National Statistics said the 1.5% monthly fall was mainly
due to the declines in crude oil prices, imported metals and other
imported parts and equipment.
Output prices rose 0.7% and were up 3.3% on the year, down from
3.7% on the year in March, with the yearly rate the lowest since
December 2009.
Core output prices were up 2.3% on the year in April compared with
up 2.5% in March.
The fall in input prices was larger than analysts had anticipated
but the decline in output prices was less.
–London bureau: 0044 20 7634 1624; email: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,MABDS$]
