UK factory gate inflation held steady in February against expectations of a fall but manufacturers' costs were lower than expected, official data showed today.
The Office for National Statistics said that output prices rose 0.3 per cent last month, keeping the annual rate at 2.9 per cent. Analysts had predicted a dip to 2.8 per cent.
Core output prices, meanwhile, which exclude food, drink, tobacco and petrol products, rose 0.2 percent as expected, taking the annual rate up to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent in January.
"The rise in core output price inflation is a little disappointing but even at 1.8 per cent remains relatively low by the standards of the past 12 months," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.
"All in all this release will not have a perceptible influence on the monetary policy debate."
Input prices did not rise last month for the first time in almost half a year.
The unchanged reading followed a monthly rise of 1.7 per cent in January and left the annual pace of input price inflation at 15.0 per cent, the same as the prior month.
This was because both crude oil and gas prices fell in February. Other commodity prices, however, are still on the increase.
Non-ferrous metal prices rose at their fastest annual rate since records began in 1991 on the back of dearer gold, copper and platinum.
Imported paper and paperboard prices posted their biggest monthly rise since comparable records began in 1996.