Wholesale prices fall for 15th straight month in January

Wholesale prices fell for a 15th straight month in January, declining an annual 0.90%, driven down by tumbling oil prices, government data showed on Monday.

The pace of fall, however, was slower than a 0.15% annual decline forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In December, the index fell a provisional 0.73%.

The wholesale fuel prices dropped 9.21% from a year ago in January, while prices of manufactured goods declined 1.17% year on year.

Food prices in January, however, gained 6.02% year-on-year, compared with a provisional 8.17% gain in December.