Eurozone inflation falls as jobless rate hits new low

(Sharecast News) - Sharp falls in energy costs and slowing price growth for services saw the eurozone inflation rate ease to a four-month low in March, according to data from Eurostat, while the unemployment rate declined to a new low. The headline consumer price index for the single-currency region rose by 2.2% year-on-year last month, down from 2.3% in February and 2.5% in January.

This was the lowest rate of price growth since November and was in line with the consensus forecast.

Services prices rose by 3.4%, down from 3.7% the month before, while energy prices dropped 0.7% after growing 0.2% previously.

That offset a rise in food, alcohol and tobacco inflation to 2.9% from 2.7%, while non-energy industrial goods inflation held steady at 0.6%.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, slowed more than expected to 2.4% from 2.6% - edging closer to the European Central Bank's 2% target.

Across eurozone members, Estonia and Slovakia registered the highest rates of inflation at 4.3%, while the lowest rates were seen in France (0.9%) and Luxembourg (1.5%)

In other news, Eurostat reported that the jobless rate for the eurozone for February fell to just 6.1% - its lowest on record - from 6.2% in January. The consensus forecast was for no change.