Eurozone Inflation Rate Falls to 6.1 Percent in May
Inflation in the eurozone slid last month to the lowest level in more than a year, as an easing of price rises after last year’s run-up in energy bills gained momentum. But the price of food and services climbed at an uncomfortable pace, raising the odds that the European Central Bank will continue to lift interest rates to curb costs.
Consumer prices in countries that use the euro rose at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in May, down from 7.0 percent in April and well below double-digit increases in autumn, Europe’s statistical agency reported Thursday. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation rose 5.3 percent, down from 5.6 percent the month before.
Yet while the yearlong surge in inflation has peaked, millions of households in Europe are continuing to confront a cost-of-living crisis, even as employers raise wages to help offset the pain, an issue that remains a top concern for E.C.B. officials.
“I could not say that the victory is there so far,” the bank’s vice president, Luis de Guindos, said in Frankfurt earlier this week.
Source: The New York Times
