FX.co ★ Finland Producer Prices Fall Further

On Wednesday, data released by Statistics Finland revealed that Finland's producer prices have maintained their downward trend in March.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) decreased by 4.5% year-over-year in March, a slight improvement from the 5.1% decline observed in the prior month. This ongoing decrease in producer prices has been a trend since April 2023.

The significant dip in producer prices for manufactured goods resulted mainly from the depreciating prices of basic metals, paper, paper products, and electricity, according to the agency.

The data showed a 3.5% annual decline in domestic producer prices, while prices of exported products slipped by 5.9%.

On a month-to-month basis, producer prices fell by 0.1%, following a 0.2% decline.

The information revealed that the export price index registered a 5.9% fall, and import prices slumped by 4.6%. Reduction in the export price index can be primarily attributed to the lower prices of basic metals, paper, paper products, and chemicals, and chemical products.

In separate official data, it was reported that the country's unemployment rate climbed to a ten-month peak of 9.0% in March, up from 7.8% in February. This rate was reported to be 6.9% the same time a year ago.

In absolute terms, the count of unemployed people rose to 254,000 in March, a significant increase from 220,000 in the preceding month.