Poland Industrial Output Falls More Than Forecast, Producer Prices Decline Further

Poland's industrial production decreased at the fastest pace in ten months in March, while producer prices continued their steep falling trend, separate reports from Statistics Poland revealed on Monday.

Industrial production dropped 6.0 percent year-over-year in March, reversing a 3.3 percent rise in February. Economists had expected a 1.0 percent decrease for the month.

Among sectors, output produced in the mining and quarrying segment plunged by 13.1 percent annually in March, and that of the manufacturing sector contracted by 6.3 percent.

On the other hand, production in the utility sector advanced by 0.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, industrial output growth was 3.6 percent in March versus a 0.7 percent gain in February.

In a separate report, the statistical office revealed that producer prices declined 9.6 percent annually in March, following a 10.0 percent slump in the prior month.

A decrease of 19.1 percent in prices in the utility sector triggered the yearly decline. Prices for the mining and quarrying sectors also fell sharply, by 12.3 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, producer prices edged up 0.1 percent.

Separate data revealed that average gross wages and salaries in the enterprise sector grew 12.0 percent annually in March, versus an expected hike of 12.1 percent.

The average paid employment in the enterprise sector dropped 0.2 percent in March, while the expected drop was 0.1 percent.

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