Eurozone consumer prices steady in August, below market consensus

Consumer prices in the eurozone remained steady during the month of August; however, it stayed below market consensus for a modest increase.

Eurozone inflation rose at an annual pace of 0.2 percent this month, the same rate as in July, compared to market expectations for a 0.3 percent rise, data released by statistics agency Eurostat showed Wednesday.

The figures came after disappointing data published yesterday showed German inflation slipped in August, dampening hopes that price growth had built up some sustained momentum in the EU’s largest economy. German consumer prices rose just 0.3 percent this month, down from 0.4 percent in July and well below the 0.5 percent expected by economists.

With the rate of inflation remaining steady in August, it seems a long way to achieve the European Central bank’s targeted range of 2 percent inflation. The bank has already adopted a negative interest rate policy, in an attempt to buy billions of government and corporate bonds to try and spur inflation.

Other data released by Eurostat on Wednesday underlined the modest nature of the eurozone’s recovery, which is now in its fourth year. While the number of people without work fell by 43,000 during July despite the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.1 percent, more than double the US rate.