France's consumer price inflation held steady in September after rising in the previous month, a provisional estimate from the statistical office INSEE showed Friday.
Separate official report showed that producer prices increased for the first time in five months in August.
The consumer price index climbed 4.9 percent year-over-year in September, the same rate of increase as in the previous month. Meanwhile, economists had forecast inflation to rise to 5.1 percent.
The annual slowdown in the prices of food, services, and manufactured products should indeed be compensated by the acceleration in energy prices due to the rebound in those of petroleum products, the agency said.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.5 percent in September, reversing a 1.0 percent rise in the previous month.
EU harmonised inflation moderated slightly to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent in the prior month. Monthly, the HICP dropped 0.6 percent versus a 1.1 percent gain.
In a separate report, the statistical office revealed that industrial producer prices in the home market rose 0.6 percent month-on-month in August, in contrast to 0.3 percent increase in the previous month. It was the first price growth since March.
The upward trend in August was attributed to an acceleration in the prices of manufactured products and a rebound in the prices of mining and quarrying products, energy, and water.
Producer prices in the foreign market slid 8.1 percent annually in August. The total producer price index declined at a faster pace of 1.4 percent from last year, after a 0.9 percent fall a month ago.
Another report showed that household consumption dropped 0.5 percent in August after a revised 0.4 percent increase in July. Purchases fell for the three main types, including engineered goods, food, and energy.
