INFLATION eased off slightly in Shanghai last month, as price increases dipped below the national average.

The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, was up 4.3 percent from a year earlier in January, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.

But this was down on the 4.5 percent increase recorded in the city in December and below the 4.9 percent rise, year on year, in China as a whole in January.

However, experts say despite this slight easing, curbing inflation will still be a tough job.

Wang Zehua, an analyst at the bureau, said the easing did not really point to fewer inflationary pressures, and it would still be an arduous task to bring inflation under control.

"The city government has made great efforts to boost supply, especially before the Spring Festival holiday," Wang said. "That's why consumer prices were well controlled last month."

Xu Weihong, an analyst at Guodu Securities Co, said Shanghai may have been less affected by product shortages than other places during the recent extreme weather, but the knock-on effect may influence city prices in the coming months.

Food costs jumped 10.1 percent year-on-year in January, the bureau said. It was faster than last year's average of 7.7 percent but weaker than the nation's 10.3 percent increase in January.

Residence costs grew by 4.9 percent while clothing prices fell 2.2 percent and transport was down 2 percent.

Shanghai announced last month that it will try to control CPI growth in line with the national target, which was set at 4 percent this year.

In other economic fronts, Shanghai reported a mixed bag of data with industrial production moderating in January but trade performing strongly. Last month, industrial output in Shanghai grew 14 percent from a year earlier to 255.7 billion yuan (US$38.8 billion), slower than 2010's average of 18.4 percent.

Imports in Shanghai surged 46 percent year-on-year to US$18.7 billion and exports jumped 24.4 percent to US$16.4 billion, making the government goal of a 10-percent growth in trade of goods in 2011 very likely.