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Euro sign in front of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt am Main
Photo:
Arne Dedert / dpa
The inflation rate in the euro zone has fallen for the first time in many months.
Within a year, consumer prices climbed by 10.0 percent in November, according to a first estimate from the statistics office Eurostat on Wednesday.
In October, inflation was 10.6 percent.
Analysts had expected 10.4 percent for November.
The slight decline from the previous record level should provide arguments for those monetary watchdogs in the European Central Bank (ECB) who favor a somewhat less sharp interest rate hike at the upcoming interest rate meeting on December 15th.
The ECB is aiming for two percent inflation as the ideal value for the euro zone.
It is currently very far from this goal.
Energy prices fueled inflation again in November, albeit not quite as sharply as recently.
Energy
prices rose by 34.9 percent year-on-year after 41.5 percent in October.
Food, alcohol and tobacco
prices
rose 13.6 percent from 13.1 percent in October.
Non-energy industrial goods
rose 6.1 percent, the same as in October.
Services
prices
increased by 4.2 percent in November after 4.3 percent in October.
In the fight against inflation, the ECB initiated a turnaround in interest rates in July and has so far increased the key rates in three steps by a total of 2.0 percentage points.
Most recently, in September and October, it raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage points in unusually high increments.
Inflation also dropped in Germany
In Germany, too, inflation has eased slightly for the first time since July.
Consumer prices rose by 10.0 percent in November compared to the same month last year, according to an initial estimate by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday.
Earlier, the annual inflation rate rose for three consecutive months, reaching 10.4 percent in October.
Sol/Reuters
