国际英语新闻：Eurozone industrial producer prices up by 0.1 % in December

BRUSSELS, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Industrial producer prices in the euro zone increased by 0.1 percent in December 2009, compared with the previous month, the European Union (EU)'s statistics arm Eurostat said on Tuesday.

Compared with November 2008, industrial producer prices in the 16-nation bloc that uses the euro dropped by 2.9 percent.

In December, while prices in the energy sector declined by 0.2 percent from November, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector remained stable in the euro zone. Intermediate goods, durable and non-durable consumer goods and capital goods all rose by 0.1 percent.

In the 27-nation EU, industrial producer prices remained stable compared with November 2009 and dropped by 1.7 percent compared with November 2008.

Among the member states for which data were available, the largest monthly increase in the total index was recorded in Bulgaria, up by 0.9 percent. The sharpest decrease was observed in Malta, down by 0.7 percent.

Industrial producer prices are a key indicator of inflation.