Eurozone prices rise at slower rate in January
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The eurozone’s inflation rate fell more than expected to 2.1 percent in January, while December retail trade showed weak growth, EU statistics agency Eurostat announced yesterday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected inflation would fall to 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent in December. On Tuesday, preliminary figures showed Germany’s annual rate of inflation slowed to 1.6 percent in January from 2.1 percent in December as a spike in health costs last year fell out of the consumer price index. The January data bring the eurozone’s inflation closer to the European Central Bank’s target of 2.0 percent, reinforcing expectations that no interest rate rise is on the cards for many months. The ECB left its main rate unchanged at 2 percent on Thursday, with no major inflationary pressures building and economic growth yet to pick up. The final January inflation data will be released on February 28. The European Union’s statistics agency reported that eurozone retail trade rose 0.2 percent month-on-month in December, the Christmas shopping season, and was up 0.5 percent year-on-year.
