China's producer price index (PPI) for manufactured goods was up 2.6 percent in August over the same period of last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

The monthly increase was 0.2 percentage points higher over that of July, said the bureau.

It said the purchasing price of raw materials, fuel, power was up 3.8 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage points higher over July.

The PPI of capital goods rose 2.2 percent, the bureau said in its latest monthly report released in Beijing on Monday.

The producer price index of mining sector was up 1.4 percent, while that of raw materials sector went up 3.9 percent, and that of processing sector was up 1.5 percent.

The PPI of consumer goods jumped 3.5 percent, and the price index of food ballooned by 8.6 percent, compared with the growth rate of 1.2 percent for garments and 1.8 percent for daily commodities.

The PPI of durable consumer goods continued to slip, down 0.5 percent, following a decrease of 1.1 percent in July.

The PPI of crude oil went down by 2.2 percent, compared with a 5.1-percent slump in the previous month.

The PPI of gasoline and kerosene fell by 5.3 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, while that of diesel oil rose 0.4 percent.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2007)