Prices across the euro zone fell in September for the fourth month in a row, official figures show today.
The 0.3% fall in the cost of living across the euro zone, according to an initial estimate by the official Eurostat EU data agency, was bigger than the confirmed 0.2% fall registered in August.
The inflation figures marked the fourth monthly fall in a row for consumer prices, the first such decline since households began paying for goods in euro notes and coins at the start of 2002.
August's more modest price fall was far smaller than the record 0.7% fall in July and had raised hopes that prices were stabilising as Europe crawls out of recession.
Analysts said that September's figures could be a blip on an upward trend.
But euro zone inflation is likely to remain below the European Central Bank's target of close to, but just below 2% for some time as underlying inflationary pressures are held down by large and still expanding output gaps across the region, high and rising unemployment and the relatively strong euro.
Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the euro group of nations, said yesterday that the euro zone economy had steadied after the plunge of the global economic crisis. But he warned that the 'situation remains fragile and flaky' and that an economic upturn could be very limited in Europe.
