The German producer price index slipped to 7.8% from 8.3%, which crossed the wires slightly stronger than the 7.3% estimate projected by economists. The breakdown of the report showed that fuel prices fell to 3.3% from 11.4% in the prior month, while utility costs unexpectedly increased to 26.3% from 23.4%. Falling oil prices have certainly helped to alleviate price pressures throughout Europe, and will certainly allow the European Central Bank to hold their dovish outlook on inflation as growth fears intensify. Lower inflation may lead the central bank to ease policy further over the coming months as Europe’s largest economy heads into a recession, and may continue to lower the benchmark interest rate well into the next year as the growth outlook turns increasingly bleak.