Producer inflation was unchanged in October, confounding expectations that it would slow further after September’s surprise slowdown. The producer price index (PPI) increased 6.6% from a year earlier. Trading Economics had forecast an increase of 6.1% and the Bloomberg consensus was for a 6% rise. Food inflation was the main contributor to the increase — contributing four percentage points of the 6.6% increase. Food producer inflation nonetheless moderated slightly, to 11.4% year on year in October — compared with 13.1% reported last month for September. Food has been one of the main drivers of inflation over the past year due to the effects of a severe drought. Recent good rains are expected to bring relief on that front in coming months, but consumers have yet to feel the benefits. The prices consumers pay for food showed an 11.7% increase year on year in October, Stats SA data showed on Wednesday. That was up from 11.3% in September. Compared with September, producer prices rose ...
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