Italy’s industrial producer prices up 1.4 pct in January

ROME, March 10 (Xinhua) — Industrial producer prices in Italy rose in January compared to the previous month, the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) said Wednesday, though they still remained below levels from a year earlier.
Prices rose 1.4 percent in January compared to December, a sign of strengthening demand. But prices remained 0.3 percent below the year-ago period, according to the institute.
The industrial producer price index is a monthly measure of prices for industrial products, measuring prices before taxes and from the point of view of manufacturers rather than from consumers, as with a country’s inflation rate.
The increase between December and January showed upward pressure on the manufacturing process for industrial products, a possible indicator that the economy may be improving in some areas after 2020, when it contracted by 8.8 percent, according to ISTAT data.
One key part of the indicator, according to ISTAT, was an increase in costs associated with the construction of “residential and non-residential buildings,” which saw a 1.2-percent increase in January compared to December and a 2.7-percent increase year on year. Prices related to the construction and maintenance of roads and railways rose by 1.1 percent compared to the previous month and 2.0 percent compared to the year-ago period.
The biggest price increase was connected to air transport services, which increased 25.8 percent, while prices connected to telecommunications services fell 12.7 percent. (Xinhua)