China’s inflation cooled sequentially in October, while the country’s official factory price gauge fell for a 44th straight month, official figures showed.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China announced on Tuesday that the consumer price index grew 1.3 percent year-on-year in October, compared with a 1.6-percent gain in September. The reading also came in weaker than a market forecast of 1.5 percent, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.

On a monthly basis, inflation fell 0.3 percent compared with a 0.1 percent rise in September.

Yu Qiumei, a statistician of the Bureau, said in a statement accompanying the results that the slowdown of inflation in October was due to falling prices for pork and vegetables.

The Bureau also said the nation’s producer price index declined 5.9 percent from previous year in October, staying unchanged from September.

“Tuesday’s data underscored significant deflationary pressures in China, which allows no delay for further easing policies,” Xinhua quoted HSBC analyst Qu Hongbin as saying.

In an effort to countering downward pressure on the economy, the Chinese government has already taken a number of measures, including six cuts in interest rates since last November.