producer prices-November
Producer prices down in Nov. on fall in farming goods
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's producer prices fell for the first time in three months in November as prices of farming products declined, central bank data showed Thursday.
The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, dropped 0.2 percent in November from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
From a year earlier, the index rose 6.3 percent, slowing from the previous month's 7.3 percent gain.
The on-month price declined as agricultural and livestock products fell 7.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, over the cited period.
In particular, food product prices fell 1.4 percent on-year with fresh food product costs also declining 0.4 percent, the data showed.
Producer prices are one of the key indicators for inflation, as they influence the prices charged to consumers.
Consumer prices rose 5 percent in November from a year earlier, sharply slowing from a 5.7 percent gain in October. Consumer prices jumped 6.3 percent in July, the highest level in about 24 years.
The BOK has raised its policy interest rate by a combined 2.75 percentage points since August last year to tamp down inflation.
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