2010.08.1904:13:00UTC+00Austrian Producer Price Inflation Quickens In June

Producer price inflation in Austria accelerated to 3.5% year-on-year in June from 2.9% in May, Statistics Austria said Thursday.

The increase of the Price Index in June mainly reflected the price rises in intermediate goods.Producer prices in intermediate goods industries recorded an annual increase of 5.8%.

Also, there was a 5.8% year-on-year increase in energy prices, contributing positively to the overall index. In May, energy prices were up 7.7%.

Excluding energy prices, the producer price index would have risen 3% annually. Factory prices of consumer goods rose 0.1% annually in June.

Month-on-month, producer prices rose 0.5% in June, mainly due to increase in production costs of basic metals and fabricated products and energy supply.

On a quarterly basis, producer prices rose 2% in the second quarter. In the first half, prices registered an increase of 1.4% over the first half of 2009.

Austrian economy expanded faster than expected in the second quarter, according to Austrian Institute of Economic Research, or Wifo. The gross domestic product grew 1.9% year-on-year in the second quarter, after the economy stagnated in the second quarter.

Copyright(c) 2010 News.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved