WARSAW (dpa-AFX) - Poland's industrial production declined for the second straight month in April and at the steepest pace in almost three years, while producer price inflation eased further to the lowest level in nearly two years, separate reports from Statistics Poland revealed on Monday.
Industrial production dropped 6.4 percent year-over-year in April, which was worse than the 3.0 percent decrease in March. That was also well above the 3.4 percent fall economists had forecast.
Moreover, this was the fastest decline since May 2020, when production plunged 16.9 percent.
Among sectors, mining and quarrying output contracted 11.7 percent annually in April, and that of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply dropped 14.3 percent. Data showed that mining and quarrying production fell by 5.6 percent.
On a monthly basis, industrial output slumped 14.8 percent in April after rebounding sharply by 13.9 percent in the prior month.
In a separate report, the statistical office revealed that producer price inflation moderated to 6.8 percent in April from 10.3 percent in the previous month.
Further, this was the slowest inflation rate since May 2021, when prices had risen 6.6 percent.
Prices for electricity, gas supply, steam, and air conditioning supply alone jumped by 42.7 percent annually in April, but slower than the 51.0 percent surge a month ago.
Prices in mining and quarrying grew 17.5 percent, and manufacturing prices gained 1.7 percent.
On a month-on-month basis, producer prices were down 0.6 percent at the start of the second quarter.
Separate data revealed that average gross wages and salaries in the enterprise sector grew 12.1 percent annually in April, in line with expectations. Meanwhile, the monthly outcome showed a decline of 1.0 percent.
The average paid employment in the enterprise sector increased by 0.4 percent yearly and by 0.1 percent monthly in April. The expected annual rise was 0.2 percent.
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