China January consumer prices up 1.8 pct

A resident purchases vegetable at a market in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, Dec. 9, 2015.

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer prices rose for a third consecutive month in January thanks to rising food prices, signalling easing of deflationary pressure, official data showed on Thursday. ' China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.8 percent year on year in January, up from a rise of 1.6 percent in December, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

Food prices, which account for one-third of the CPI calculation, edged up 4.1 percent year on year while non-food inflation climbed 1.2 percent, mainly due to higher prices of medical care, clothing and entertainment.

Pork prices jumped significantly at 18.8 percent, contributing 0.44 percentage points of CPI growth.

Month on month, consumer prices edged up 0.5 percent.

The NBS said vegetable prices went up due to supply shortages during a cold January, that demand for pork and transportation rose before the Lunar New Year, and that service prices had increased along with labor costs.

It was also revealed on Thursday that China's producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, dropped 5.3 percent year on year in January, the 47th straight month of decline.