UK factory gate inflation slows, China consumer price inflation rises

There was downside surprise on inflation in the UK yesterday. From Reuters:

The price of goods at the factory gate slowed more than expected in August and firms' costs fell at their sharpest monthly rate in 1-1/2 years, in a sign that inflationary pressures may be easing...

Output prices were flat on the month in August, the Office for National Statistics said, bringing the annual rate of increase down to a lower-than-expected 2.6 percent...

Core output prices defied expectations for a rise and fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.2 percent -- the sharpest decline since December 2004.

Input prices, too, showed their biggest fall in 1-1/2 years, down 1.2 percent on the month, helped by lower crude oil prices, which were 2.8 percent lower on the month, the ONS said.

Other economic news from the UK:

Separately, the ONS reported Britain's global goods trade deficit was largely as expected but non-EU trade posted a record deficit of 4.281 billion pounds ($8 billion) in July...

The Department for Communities and Local Government said house prices rose 6.0 percent year-on-year in July compared with 5.3 percent the previous month. Property inflation in London, at 7.1 percent, led the way.

But consumer price inflation continued to creep up in China. From Xinhua Online:

China's consumer prices were up 1.3 percent in August over a year ago, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Monday.

The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than in July, said an NBS report.