Eurozone inflation stable at 1.9 percent in November
2010-12-16 16:46:26
Annual inflation in the euro zone remained stable at 1.9 percent in November, the European Union (EU)'s statistic office Eurostat said Thursday.
The rate stayed within the target of "close but below two percent" preferred by the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain price stability.
Earlier this month, the Frankfurt-based ECB kept its benchmark interest rate at 1.0 percent, a record low since the euro came into being in 1999.
Excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, whose prices tend to be volatile, core annual inflation in the 16 EU nations that use the euro remained at 1.1 percent in November, largely in line with economists' expectation.
The main components with the highest annual rates in November were transport, alcohol and tobacco, and housing, while the lowest annual rate was observed for communications.
In the 27-nation EU, annual inflation was 2.3 percent in November, unchanged compared with October.
In November, the lowest annual rate was observed in Ireland, where consumer prices were down by 0.8 percent, while Romania registered the highest rate of 7.7 percent.