PARIS (dpa-AFX) - France's consumer price inflation remained stable in March, staying at its lowest level in just over 4 years, a provisional estimate from the statistical office INSEE showed on Friday.
Separate official data showed that producer prices declined for the first time in five months in February.
Consumer price inflation came in at 0.8 percent in March, the same as in February, which was the lowest inflation since February 2021.
Similarly, harmonized inflation also held steady in March at 0.9 percent. Moreover, the inflation remained below the European Central Bank's target of 2 percent.
The acceleration in service prices, particularly insurance, and in food prices, especially fresh products, should be offset by the falls in the prices of energy and, to a lesser extent, in manufactured products, the agency said.
The annual decline in energy prices deepened to 6.2 percent from 5.8 percent, and costs for manufactured products logged a renewed decline of 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, services inflation rose to 2.3 percent from 2.2 percent. Food prices grew 0.6 percent from last year versus 0.3 percent in February.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.2 percent after remaining flat in February. The HICP also showed a monthly increase of 0.2 percent.
In a separate report, the statistical office revealed that industrial producer prices in the home market dropped 0.8 percent month-on-month in February, reversing a 0.6 percent increase in the previous month.
The downward trend in February was mainly attributed to a 2.9 percent fall in prices for mining and quarrying products, energy, and water. Prices of manufactured products rose at a slower pace of 0.1 percent against a 0.8 percent gain in January.
On an annual basis, the decline in producer prices softened to 1.4 percent from 2.2 percent a month ago.
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