Energy costs push euro area producer prices higher in August

A jump in energy costs and upwards revisions to prior months' data pushed factory gate prices in the single currency bloc past analysts' forecasts in August.

Headline producer prices in the Eurozone rose by 0.3% month-on-month and 4.2% year-on-year, according to Eurostat.

Economists had penciled-in an increase of 0.2% on the month and 3.8% over the year.

Versus July, energy costs were up by 0.9% while those for durable and non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

To take note of, July's increase in producer prices was marked-up from an initial print of 0.4% on the month to 0.7%.

Excluding energy prices, wholesale inflation in fact slowed from a 1.7% clip year-on-year in July to 1.5% for August.

In comparison to the month before, price pressures ebbed in most of the major economies, with those in France rising by just 0.2% following a 0.7% increase during the prior month while in Italy they were up 0.5% after gaining 1.8% in July.