The euro zone’s annual inflation rate fell to 10% in November from 10.6% in October, the first drop since June 2021 thanks to a pause in energy prices, Eurostat said on Wednesday. Fueled by energy and food, inflation had hit an all-time high every month since November 2021. The situation had worsened since the spring with war-linked market disruptions in Ukraine.
The fall observed in November is greater than what analysts from Bloomberg and Factset had anticipated, who had forecast inflation of 10.4%.
The slowdown in price increases mainly affected energy. This component of the index increased 34.9% annually, after 41.5% in October. However, the increase in food prices (including alcohol and tobacco) continued to accelerate to 13.6%, 0.5 points more than the previous month. The year-on-year rise in prices in industry remained stable at 6.1% in November, while in services it slowed down slightly to 4.2% (-0.1 pp).
Spain dethrones France
Among the 19 countries that share the single currency, Spain dethroned France for the lowest inflation rate at 6.6%, compared to France’s 7.1%, according to harmonized Eurostat data. Inflation fell slightly in Germany to 11.3% (-0.3 points) and in Italy to 12.5% (-0.1 points).
The decline in inflation in November should ease the pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB), which is in the business of raising rates. But ECB President Christine Lagarde stressed on Monday that she would be “surprised” if inflation had peaked in October, suggesting it is therefore likely to continue rising in the coming months and monetary tightening to continue. in progress.
“I would like to see inflation spike in October, but I think there is too much uncertainty” to assume that is the case, he told a hearing before the European Parliament.
Source: BFM TV
