Eurozone inflation rose by three tenths in October due to a smaller fall in energy prices, reaching 2%, in line with the euro zone’s price stability target. European Central Bank (BCE), according to preliminary data published this Thursday by Eurostat, the community statistical office.
For its part, underlying inflation – which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, the most volatile elements – remained unchanged at 2.7% in October. It’s a key structural indicator for the ECB when it decides on interest rates.
If we analyze the main components of the harmonized Eurozone CPI, services This is the factor that increased the most last year (3.9% in October, stable compared to the previous month). Next come food, alcohol and tobacco (up slightly, from 2.4% in September to 2.9% in October).
Prices of industrial products excluding energy increased by 0.5% (compared to 0.4% in September). But the main factor that explains the inflationary rebound is that energy prices fall at a rate of 4.6% compared to the previous year, compared to the 6.1% decline in September.
Among the large eurozone countries, the largest increase in the harmonized CPI is recorded in Germany (from 1.8% to 2.4%), followed by Italy (from 0.7% to 1%). , Spain (from 1.7% to 1.8%) and France (from 1.4% to 1.5%).
The rebound in prices and the slight acceleration in growth during the third quarter of the year reduce pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) will make a drastic rate cut at its next meeting on December 12. Most analysts now expect a quarter-point decline (as in July, September and October) and rule out a more aggressive half-point adjustment.
“In December, the Governing Council of the ECB will publish new forecasts which will show whether we are still on the right track when it comes to inflation. I recommend being careful and not rushing.“, declared the President of the Bundesbank this Wednesday, Joachim Nagel. The ECB itself had already predicted that inflation would accelerate slightly in the final months of the year due to the “stepping effect” caused by a smaller fall in energy prices.
Unemployment rate in EU countries in September 2024
Eurostat also published unemployment data for the month of September this Thursday. The unemployment level remained stable at its historic low of 6.3% in the eurozone and 5.9% in the EU as a whole. The community labor market continues to demonstrate an unprecedented level of resilience in a hostile environment marked by strong geopolitical uncertainty, anemic growth and still very high interest rates.
Again, Spain is the leader in unemployment in the EU (position he has held since February 2022) with a rate of 11.2%, a figure which practically doubles the community average. However, the level of Spanish unemployment fell by a tenth compared to August and by eight tenths compared to September 2023.
Behind Spain, the member countries with the highest unemployment rate are Greece (9.3%), Sweden (8.5%) and Finland (8.4%). At the opposite end of the picture are the Czech Republic (2.8%), Poland (2.9%), Malta (3%), Slovenia (3.4%) and Germany (3.5%). are the Member States with the lowest unemployment and record the lowest unemployment rate. figures usually considered as “full technical employment”.
Our country is also the EU leader in youth unemployment with a rate of 26.5%. (stable compared to August). In this case, the eurozone average rose to 14.4% in September (a tenth more than the previous month), while in the EU as a whole it reached 14.8% . Germany is the Member State with the lowest unemployment rate for those under 25: 6.9%.
