Producer prices gains muted in Europe

Producer prices in the Europe Union rose 0.3 percent in November compared with October, Eurostat, the region\'s data office, said Thursday. In the 17-member eurozone, the area that shares the euro as currency, producer prices rose 0.2 percent, Eurostat said. Compared to a year ago in November, prices for industrial producers rose 6.3 percent in the 27-member European Union and 5.3 percent in the eurozone. From November to November, prices rose 3.3 percent in the EU and 3 percent in the eurozone with energy items excluded from the data. Prices for energy items alone rose 13.8 percent in the EU and 12.3 percent in the eurozone over 12 months. Prices received by producers rose the fastest in Sweden, up 1.6 percent, followed by the Ireland, Greece and Britain, where prices rose 0.7 percent. Denmark and Latvia posted price declines of 0.4 percent. Belgium and Slovenia posted declines of 0.2 percent, followed by Cyprus with a drop of 0.1 percent.