Euro zone producer prices fall m/m as expected in Nov

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone producer prices fell month-on-month as expected in November, the EU's statistics office said on Thursday, pulled down by falling costs of energy.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said prices at factory gates in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell 0.9% month-on-month for a 27.1% year-on-year rise.

The monthly fall was mainly due to a sharp decline in energy prices, which were 2.2% lower in November than in October. A 0.4% monthly fall in prices of intermediate goods helped too.

But energy prices were still 55.7% higher in November than a year earlier, accounting for most of the year-on-year rise of the overall producer price index which is an early indication of consumer inflation trends.

The European Central Bank wants to keep consumer inflation at 2.0% over the medium term and has been rapidly raising interest rates since the middle of the year to bring price growth, caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, under control.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)