Credit: REUTERS/JASON LEEBEIJING, Sept 10 (Reuters) - China's factory gate prices contracted for the second month in August and at a sharper rate, reinforcing the urgency for Beijing to step up stimulus as a deepening trade war with the United States heaps pressure on its manufacturing sector and the broader economy.
The producer price index (PPI), a key barometer of corporate profitability, dropped 0.8% from year earlier in August, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
It was the worst year-on-year contraction since August 2016, when it fell 0.8%.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected factory gate inflation to have shrunk 0.9% year-on-year last month, following a 0.3% decline in July.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.8% in August on-year, unchanged from July. That compared with a 2.6% increase predicted by analysts.
(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Kim Coghill)
((hongkong.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; （8610）6627-1277; Reuters Messaging: roxanne.liu@thomsonreuters.com))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
