China’s annual inflation rate increased steeply to 1.5 percent in October from 0.7 percent in the previous month, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said. This was the highest rate since September 2020. Costs of transportation and communication rose the most, jumping by a yearly rate of 7 percent. Prices of non-food items and the index of fuel and utilities also rose by 2.4 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. Additionally, the monthly change in prices went up to 0.7 percent in October compared to last month’s zero inflation rate. Meanwhile, producer inflation in China climbed to an annual rate of 13.5 percent in October, compared to September"s 10.7 percent figure, official data revealed. This is the 10th consecutive month of increases in factory prices and the highest growth since 1995 due to a jump in costs of raw materials and mounting power shortages, according to China’s official statistics agency. Prices of means of production surged by 17.9 percent. In particular, costs of extraction and raw materials soared, increasing by 66.5 percent and 25.7 percent respectively. Egypt"s inflation The annual Egyptian urban consumer price inflation moderated to 6.3 percent in October compared to September’s 6.6 percent, the country"s official statistics agency, CAPMAS, said. Meanwhile, the entire country’s yearly inflation rate edged down to 7.3 percent, falling from the previous month’s 8 percent. This was driven by a 13.7 percent surge in prices of food and beverages. The costs of transportation also went up, rising by 4 percent. Germany’s inflation Germany’s annual inflation rate recorded the highest rate since August 1993, reaching 4.5 percent in October, the country’s Federal Statistics Office said. Last year’s low base effect, the temporary VAT decrease in the second half of 2020, and other factors such as delivery bottlenecks and marked price increases all contributed to the country’s inflationary pressures. Energy and food prices were partly responsible for the upswing in prices, as they grew by 18.6 percent and 4.4 percent respectively. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate rose to 0.5 percent in October. Unemployment in South Korea and Turkey South Korea"s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 3.2 percent in October, up from 3 percent in September, according to data released by Statistics Korea. This is the highest jobless rate in three months. Meanwhile, the same unemployment indicator for Turkey declined by 0.6 percent to 11.5 percent in September, official data showed. The country now enjoys the lowest unemployment rate since June.