Euro zone inflation slips

The Eurostat reported it flash estimate revealed Euro area annual inflation rose 1.4 percent in January 2019, decelerating from 1.6 percent in December 2018. The reading was in line with the economists’ expectation. 

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy had the highest annual rate in January (+2.6 percent y-o-y), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+1.8 percent y-o-y), services (+1.6 percent y-o-y) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.3 percent y-o-y).

Meanwhile, the core indicator, which excludes volatile energy and unprocessed food prices, increased to 1.2 percent in January, above economists’ forecast of an unchanged 1.1 percent reading.

A narrower measure that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco rose to 1.1 percent, also above economists’ expectation of an unchanged 1.0 percent reading.