Eurozone inflation moderated by lower than anticipated in February regardless of quickly easing power costs, including to indicators that value pressures are extra persistent than beforehand thought.
Consumer costs rose 8.5% in February in contrast with the identical month a yr earlier, easing barely from a 8.6% annual enhance in January, preliminary knowledge from the European Union’s statistics company Eurostat confirmed Thursday.
The studying exceeds the 8.2% consensus forecast from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
The decline in inflation was pushed by moderating power costs, which elevated by 13.7% on yr in February, slowing from a 18.9% on-year rise in January.
However, meals costs elevated 15% on yr, greater than the 14.1% rise a month earlier. Inflation of each nonenergy industrial items and for providers additionally gained tempo, the info confirmed.
The core annual inflation fee–which strips out the extra risky classes of meals and power, and one of many key knowledge for the European Central Bank to contemplate at coverage selections–accelerated to five.6% in February from 5.3% in January, reaching a file excessive.
The European Central financial institution is predicted to extend rates of interest by one other 50 foundation factors at its subsequent assembly on March 16 as value pressures stay excessive and the financial system has averted a recession up to now.
Investors are ramping up their expectations for the place they count on eurozone rates of interest to peak on account of current feedback from European Central Bank policymakers, excessive inflation and a comparatively resilient financial system.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
