Inflation started to rise again in December in the euro zone, to 2.9% over one year, after 2.4% in November, mainly due to energy prices, Eurostat announced on Friday.
The figure is in line with the forecasts of analysts interviewed by Bloomberg and reassures the European Central Bank (ECB) in the idea that the fight is not over to bring the rise in consumer prices back to its target of 2%.
The rebound in inflation is solely linked to a lesser decline in energy prices in December. They fell by 6.7% compared to the same month last year, but in November this drop had reached 11.5%.
The rise in food prices (including alcohol and tobacco) declined to 6.1% in December, after 6.9% the previous month.
But the figure most scrutinized by the financial markets and the ECB is that of underlying inflation, corrected for the very volatile prices of energy and food. This indicator, considered more representative, fell to 3.4% in December, after 3.6% in November, in line with analysts’ forecasts, an encouraging signal.
If the increase in service prices remained at 4% year-on-year in December, that of industrial goods fell by 2.5%, or 0.4 points less than the previous month.
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