Manufacturing prices ease in May

The cost of goods leaving factories and the prices of materials bought by firms both fell in the year to May, hinting inflation is continuing to cool.
Output prices fell 0.3% in May from a year earlier, the biggest annual fall since June 2002, the Office for National Statistics said.
Input costs dropped 9.4% in May from a year earlier as the price of oil and imported metals fell at a record pace.
However, analysts said the recent rise in oil prices could hurt producers.
„May’s UK producer prices confirm that cost pressures in the manufacturing sector are continuing to ease rapidly,“ said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.
He said that this easing should also be felt in the consumer price index.
However, he added that the rally in crude oil prices, which are now near $70 a barrel, could hurt manufacturers.
Both input and output prices rose 0.4% in May from April.
„The recent renewed rise in oil prices, if sustained, obviously raises a few concerns regarding the future path of producers’ costs,“ Mr Loynes said.