China Inflation Cools as Global Oil Prices Drop

China’s factory-gate prices shrank and consumer inflation cooled on a month-on-month basis in June, underscoring the economy’s persistent struggle with weak domestic demand.

The producer price index (PPI) climbed 4.1% year-on-year — largely due to a low base of comparison — but dropped 0.3% from May, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 1% year-on-year but fell 0.3% month-on-month.

Both indicators slightly missed average estimates in a Caixin survey of economists, which put year-on-year PPI and CPI growth at 4.2% and 1.1%, respectively.