Eurozone inflation inches up to 2.2 pct in November

FRANKFURT

Eurozone inflation inched up in November, official data showed Tuesday, moving slightly over the European Central Bank's two-percent target.

Consumer prices rose by 2.2 percent year on the year, disappointing forecasts by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg who had predicted inflation to remain stable at 2.1 percent.

The modest acceleration was driven mainly by energy prices, which continued to fall, but more slowly than previous month.

Service prices also climbed slightly, rising 3.5 percent after 3.4 percent in October.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, was unchanged from the previous month at 2.4 percent across the 20 countries sharing the single currency -- in line with analyst predictions.

The figures are likely to reinforce expectations that the ECB will keep interest rates on hold, following a long cutting cycle that ended in June.

The ECB left its key rate unchanged for the third consecutive time in October, after inflation fell from more than 10 percent in 2022 to settle around the bank's two-percent target.

The central bank's governing council next meets to set rates on Dec. 18.