Euro Area CPI inflation eases to 2.5% in June

Annual consumer price inflation in the Euro Area has decelerated to 2.5% in June from 2.6% in May, in line with market consensus, preliminary data by Eurostat showed on Tuesday.

Prices rose at a slower rate for food, alcohol and tobacco (2.5% YoY compared to 2.6% YoY in May) and for energy (0.2% YoY compared to 0.3% YoY in May).

In the meantime, inflation remained steady for non-energy industrial goods, at 0.7%, and for services, at 4.1%.

The bloc’s annual core inflation rate, which excludes volatile categories such as food and energy, surprisingly remained steady at 2.9% in June, against market estimates of 2.8%.

In monthly terms, consumer prices in the bloc increased 0.2% in June, or at the same pace as in May.

The Euro was little changed on the day against the US Dollar, with the EUR/USD currency pair last trading at 1.0716.