May CPI year-on-year growth stayed flat, while PPI growth widened; upstream and downstream prices continued to diverge

【Caixin】 Affected by lower energy and service prices, the May residential consumer price index (CPI) month-over-month turned down, while the year-over-year increase held steady with the previous month; despite international oil prices falling, producer price index (PPI) month-over-month continued to rise thanks to the momentum from non-ferrous metals and artificial intelligence-related industries, with the year-over-year growth rate widening to the highest since July 2022.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on June 10 showed that in May, CPI rose 1.2% year over year, with the increase matching the previous month; month over month, it shifted from an increase of 0.3% in April to a decrease of 0.1%. Core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, slowed by 0.1 percentage point to 1.1% year over year, indicating that the situation of stronger supply and weaker demand is still ongoing. In the same month, PPI rose 3.9% year over year, which was 1.1 percentage points higher than the prior figure; the month-over-month growth rate narrowed by 1.2 percentage points to 0.5%.