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Eurozone inflation picks up in April

By Sean Farrell

Date: Friday 17 May 2019

Eurozone inflation picks up in April

(Sharecast News) - Eurozone inflation picked up in line with expectations in April, as prices rose in the services sector.


Headline inflation rose to an annual rate of 1.7% in April from 1.4% in March, in line with consensus and the initial estimate. The core rate rose to 1.3% from 0.8% in March, slightly ahead of consensus and an initial estimate reading of 1.2%.

The biggest contributor to euro area inflation was services at 0.86 percentage point, followed by energy at 0.51 point. The European Central Bank aims for an inflation rate of less than but close to 2% and has raised the prospect of more monetary support as the region's economy slows. Economists are doubtful that April's pickup will last.

Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the core rate would return to its trend of between 1% and 1.1% in May and end the year at about 1.3%, boosted by higher services prices in France. He predicted the headline rate would slip back to between 1.4% and 1.5% in the coming months.



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