Inflation in European countries using the euro currency inches higher to 7% in April as the squeeze on households extends.
Europe’s painful inflation inched higher last month, extending the squeeze on households and keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to unleash another large interest rate increase.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel, slowed slightly but was still high at 5.6 percent, underlining the expectation that the ECB will press ahead with its campaign to beat inflation into submission with rate hikes. The question is: How quickly will the bank go?
Analysts say the ECB’s meeting Thursday in Frankfurt could end in an increase of a quarter- or a half-percentage point.
Consumer prices in the 20 countries using the euro currency jumped 7% in April from a year earlier, just down from the annual rate of 6.9 percent in March, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday.
Food prices eased a little, falling to an annual 13.6 percent from March’s 15.5 percent, while energy prices rose a more modest 2.5 percent.
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