Factory-gate inflation in China lessened during November from a 26-year high, which economists note will allow policy makers to more easily shore up a slowing economy, reports The Wall Street Journal. The producer-price index rose 12.9% year-on-year during November, down from 13.5% in the previous month, which was the quickest increase since 1995, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The reading beats the 12% increase expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
China’s industrial inflation has stayed at elevated levels since May. The pullback indicates that Beijing’s months-long effort to alleviate an energy shortage and its crackdowns on speculation in raw materials have started to help ease cost pressure for factories, an official said.
“The rapid surge in coal, metals and other energy and raw materials prices has been initially contained,” said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician at the statistics bureau.
