By Jeff Perlah - China's consumer inflation rate held steady in January, coming in slightly higher than forecasts.
The consumer price index jumped 2.5 percent from a year earlier, or 1 percent on a monthly basis, as beef, pork and vegetable prices all increased, official data showed Friday.
The year-on-year result was identical to that in December, but the month-on-month gain was higher than a 0.3 percent climb in the previous month. The result also surpassed a 2.3 percent climb forcasted in Wall Street Journal and Reuters surveys.
The producer price index fell 1.6 percent in January from a year earlier -- which was the biggest decrease since August 2013. A decline of 1.7 percent had been expected.
That compared to a 1.4 percent fall in December, when prices were flat on a monthly basis. The result matched a forecast from a Wall Street Journal economists' poll.