BEIJING, Sept 11 (Reuters) - China's industrial output in August exceeded expectations with an acceleration to 13.9 percent year-on-year growth from 13.4 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Saturday.
China's headline inflation sped up to 3.5 percent in the year to August from 3.3 percent in the 12 months to July.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 13.0 percent growth in industrial output and a 3.4 percent rise in the consumer price index. [ID:nSGE6820DJ]
Following are key economic indicators released by the bureau (percent change from a year earlier):
Aug Jul F/C-Aug Jun CPI 3.5 3.3 3.4 2.9 PPI 4.3 4.8 4.5 6.4 Industry output 13.9 13.4 13.0 13.7 Retail sales 18.4 17.9 17.8 18.3 Urban FAI 24.8 24.9 24.5 25.5
NOTE: Urban fixed-asset investment is for year to date.
The CPI rose 0.6 percent in August from the previous month after a 0.4 percent month-on-month rise in July. This figure is not seasonally adjusted. Economists had expected an increase last month because widespread floods have boosted food prices.
On the CPI, the NBS said food prices rose 7.5 percent in the year to August, with non-food prices up 1.5 percent.
In August alone, food prices rose 2.0 percent, while non-food prices were unchanged.
The Producer Price Index rose 0.4 percent between July and August after a 0.4 percent drop in July. (Reporting by Zhou Xin and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Ken Wills)