German March Producer Prices Unchanged on Month, +3.1% On Year

German producer prices remained unchanged in March, while the annual rate stabilized at the February level.

Factory gate prices rose 3.1% in March from the same month of 2016, the federal statistics office Destatis said on Thursday. The annual rate matched the February level, the strongest annual rise in over five years.

Economists in a Wall Street Journal's survey forecast producer prices would remain unchanged on the month and increase by 3.1% on the year, matching the announced figures.

Following the pattern of previous months, energy prices had the biggest effect on the overall index, Destatis said. Energy prices were 4.5% higher in March than in the same month in 2016, although they declined by 0.6% compared with February.

Excluding energy prices, which tend to be volatile, producer prices rose 0.3% on the month and increased by 2.6% on the year.

Write to Emese Bartha at emese.bartha@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2017 02:25 ET (06:25 GMT)