Euro zone manufacturers raised their prices at the fastest pace in at least four years last month amid an unexpected drop in the sector's activity, data showed today.
The RBS/NTC Eurozone Purchasing Managers' Index fell much more than expected to 55.5 in January from 56.5 in December but kept firmly in the growth area above 50.0.
Economists had forecast a slight easing to 56.2.
The survey of around 3,000 manufacturers also showed the new orders index, an indicator of future demand, eased for the third consecutive month. It hit a 12-month low of 56.5 from 57.8 in December, while new export orders growth slipped to a year-low.
But a jump in the factory output price index from 55.9 to 58.4 - a record high in the series which began in late 2002 - should keep the European Central Bank on track for an expected interest rate rise to 3.75 per cent in March.
Another survey today showed that French manufacturing growth eased for a second straight month in January as output and new orders slowed.
The RBS/CDAF purchasing managers index, which measures activity in manufacturing, fell to 52.4 in January from 54.2 in December, hitting its lowest point since February 2006 and slipping further from a six-year high of 57.2 struck in July.