BERLIN, Nov 24 - Germany's Hesse state said on Wednesday consumer prices fell 0.6 percent month on month in November as oil prices cooled, pointing to a slowdown in German and euro zone inflation.
Compared with November 2003, consumer prices rose 1.4 percent, down from an annual rate of inflation of 1.6 percent in October.
Hesse was the second of six German states to report data used to compile a preliminary inflation estimate for Germany. The state of Brandenburg said on Tuesday prices fell 0.5 percent month-on-month and rose 2.1 percent year-on-year, compared with a 2.5 percent annual gain in October.
Consumer price data from the German states offer the first glimpse of wider inflation trends across the euro zone. Germany accounts for around a third of the pan-euro zone consumer price index, which in October showed annual inflation of 2.4 percent.