Eurozone inflation stable in August
AFP, Brussels
Annualized inflation in the 12-nation eurozone was stable in August at 2.3 percent after the same reading in July, the European statistics office Eurostat reported Thursday. Consumer prices rose 0.2 points in August from July. In the full 25-member European Union annual inflation also came to 2.3 percent in both August and July, the agency said. The European Central Bank defines price stability as inflation which is close to but slightly below 2.0 percent. The office attributed the rise in prices to increased oil rates in August that pushed up overall energy prices in the eurozone by 1.5 percent over July. The higest levels of inflation last month were in Latvia, 7.8 percent, Hungary, 7.2 percent, Slovakia, 7.0 percent and Poland, 4.9 percent. In the eurozone, inflation came to 3.6 percent in Luxembourg, 3.3 percent in Spain, 2.8 percent in Greece, 2.5 percent in France and Ireland, 2.4 percent in Italy and 2.1 percent in Germany. The lowest inflation was recorded in Finland, 0.3 percent, Denmark, 0.9 percent, 1.2 percent in the Netherlands and Sweden and 1.3 percent in Britain.
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