It is reported that European producer prices declined the most on record in April led by lower energy costs amid the deepest economic slump in more than six decades.

The European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said that “Factory gate prices in the 16 nation euro region fell by 4.6% from a year earlier, after a revised 2.9% drop in March.”

In April, euro-area producer prices dropped 1% from March, when they declined 0.7%. The annual drop in March was revised from 3.1%

The April drop was the biggest decline since the data series began in January 1981 and was steeper than the 4.5% median forecast of 17 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Excluding energy and construction, producer prices declined 2.4% in April from a year earlier and were down 0.4%from March. Energy prices fell 11.1%on the year and 3% from the prior month.

European companies are lowering prices and eliminating jobs to survive the worst recession since World War II, which has prompted the European Central Bank to cut its key interest to a record low 1%.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)