Eurozone industrial producer prices increased by 0.1 percent against the previous month in January, the European Union's statistics bureau Eurostat said Friday.

On the yearly basis, the industrial producer price index rose by 2.9 percent in the 13-nation bloc sharing the same currency, the euro.

Slovenia, which became the 13th member of the euro zone as of January 1, was first included in the statistics.

Compared to the previous month, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector increased by 0.4 percent, while prices in the energy sector fell by 1.0 percent.

Durable consumer goods gained 0.7 percent in January, the largest increase among different sectors, while intermediate goods and capital goods increased by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively, followed by non-durable consumer goods, an increase of 0.2 percent.

Year on year, prices in the energy sector rose by 1.2 percent, and in other sectors as a whole increased by 3.4 percent.

The producer price index, a key indicator of inflation pressure, had remained stable for three months before January. The slight increase may strengthen the case of the European Central Bank to raise its benchmark interest rate again.

It was widely expected that the ECB will raise the rate by another 0.25 of a percentage point to 3.75 percent in early March. The Bank is concerned about inflation risks posed by robust economic growth.

For the 27-nation EU, industrial producer prices in January remained unchanged from the previous month, while the annual increase rate was 2.4 percent.

Source: Xinhua