Inflation rises again in January.
According to preliminary estimates from Istat, the national consumer price index for the entire community (NIC), including tobacco, increased in January by 0.3% on a monthly basis and by 0.8% on an annual basis (from +0.6% in the previous month).
While "underlying inflation", net of energy and fresh food, decelerates from +3.1% to +2.8% and that net of energy goods alone from +3.4% to +3.1 %.
"The harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) decreased in January by 1.1% on a monthly basis, due to the start of the winter sales for clothing and footwear which the NIC index does not take into account, and increased of 0.9% on an annual basis (increasing from +0.5% in December". This was stated by Istat in its preliminary estimates for January. The acceleration on a trend basis of inflation is due to the increase in prices of transport services (from +3.7% to +4.3%) and of unprocessed food goods (from +7.0% to +7.5%) and to the decrease in the decline in prices of regulated energy goods (from -41.6% to -21.4%); on the other hand, the increase in prices of housing-related services attenuated (from +4.2% to +2.9%) and durable goods ( from +1.5% to +0.8%).The trend trend in the prices of goods slows down (from -1.5% to -0.8%), while that of services decelerates, although remaining positive ( from +3.4% to +2.9%), resulting in a decrease in the inflationary differential between the services and goods sectors (+3.7 percentage points, from +4.9 in December).
The cyclical increase in the general index is mostly due to the growth in prices of unprocessed food goods (+1.1%), processed food goods (+1.0%), housing-related services (+0.4%), non-regulated energy goods and other goods (+0.3% both);
the effects of these increases were only partially offset by the decrease in the prices of transport-related services (-1.2%) and by the slight drop in the prices of regulated energy goods (-0.1%).
"Inflation shows a slight rebound, rising to 0.8% from 0.6% in December 2023. The moderate acceleration in the rate of growth of prices reflects the trend in prices of regulated energy goods, the decline of which on a trend basis is, in January, attenuated due to the statistical effect due to the unfavorable comparison with January 2023" comments Istat
According to preliminary estimates from Istat, in January the prices of food, household and personal care goods increased slightly on a trend basis from +5.3% to +5.4%, while those of high-frequency products d purchases slow down (from +4.4% in December to +3.6%).
"A contribution to the rise in inflation is also due to the persistence of tensions on the prices of unprocessed food goods, the effects of which are also manifested in the acceleration of the so-called "shopping cart" (+5.4%)".
Eurostat, inflation drops to 2.8% in the eurozone in January
According to Eurostat's flash estimate, inflation in the euro area should stand at 2.8% in January, down from 2.9% in December.
The main components remain food, alcohol and tobacco (with a rate falling to 5.7% from 6.1% in December), followed by services (stable at 4%), non-energy industrial goods (down from 2.5 to 2%) and energy (-6.3%, compared to -6.7% in December).
In December, unemployment in the euro area was 6.4%, stable compared to November.
Also stable in the EU, at 5.9%.
Eurostat estimates this.
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