Euro zone inflation eased in May to 2.7% after hitting a 30-month peak the previous month, European Union data showed today.
Annual inflation is expected to have dropped back slightly according to a flash estimate issued by Eurostat, the EU's data agency, after hitting 2.8% in April.
While it marks the sixth month in a row in which inflation was well above the 2% target set by the European Central Bank, it remains below the pre-crisis October 2008 level of 3.2%.
Fuelled by a spike in energy costs as well as for raw materials, the ECB recently lifted its benchmark interest rate to from 1% to 1.25% with a further quarter-point rise expected over the summer.
Euro jobless rate unchanged at 9.9%
The euro zone unemployment rate remained unchanged in April, at 9.9% for the third month in a row, official European Union figures showed today.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remained at 9.9% last month, with 15.53 million men and women without a job in the euro zone, the Eurostat data agency said. However that translated into roughly 115,000 fewer people out of work compared to March.
Compared to one year earlier, there were almost half a million fewer people on the dole. The previous month saw the rate unchanged at 9.9%, but with only some 10,000 people dropping off the euro zone unemployed roll.
The jobless rate had hit a record 10.1% last October before finally falling to 9.9% in February.
Across the wider 27-nation EU, which includes non-euro Britain and Poland, the jobless rate was 9.4% in April, down from 9.5% in March. About 22.5 million people were looking for work in the European Union in April, 165,000 fewer than the previous month.
Spain has the highest unemployment rate at 20.7%, while the Netherlands and Austria have the lowest at 4.2%.
German unemployment fell to 7% of the workforce in May, official data there showed as the euro zone's powerhouse economy continued to reap the benefits of labour market reforms and a global recovery.
The Federal Labour Agency said the unadjusted number of unemployed had fallen in Europe's biggest economy below three million, with a drop of 118,000 bringing the politically symbolic figure to 2,960,000. When adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects the decline was a much more modest 8,000 however.
