China November inflation quickens to 2 percent on year

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation sped to 2 percent in November from 33-month lows, data showed on Sunday, dampening the chance for further policy easing as the economy recovers.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast November inflation to climb to five-month highs of 2.1 percent, compared with October's 1.7 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics said in the same release China's producer price index dropped 2.2 percent in November from a year ago, narrowing from October's 2.8 percent annual fall but sharper than forecasts for a 2 percent decline.

A recovery in factory-gate prices bodes well for China's corporate sector, which has been battling falling profits.

Sunday's price data support earlier indications that China's economy is finally stirring from a slump stretched over seven straight quarters, thanks in part to the central bank's policy loosening.

To reinvigorate economic growth, the central bank cut interest rates twice this year, lowered banks' reserve requirements by a 100 basis points, and pumped cash into the banking system.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing and Aileen Wang; Editing by Paul Tait)