China consumer inflation creeps up in Nov

China's consumer inflation rate edged up in November, official data showed Wednesday, while factory gate price falls lingered at a six-year low as the world's second-largest economy grapples with slowing growth.

The consumer price index (CPI) -- a main gauge of inflation -- rose 1.5 percent last month from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement. It edged up from October's 1.3 percent and was slightly above a median forecast of a 1.4 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Moderate inflation can be a boon to consumption as it pushes buyers to act before prices go up, while falling prices encourage shoppers to delay purchases and companies to put off investment, both of which can hurt growth.a