Euro zone inflation jumped to 3% in September, well above the threshold favoured by the European Central Bank for price stability, official figures showed today.
The September figure was an increase from 2.5% in August, the Eurostat data agency said, confirming a previous estimate of the annual rate of price rises across the 17-nation monetary union. Analysts had forecast stable inflation at 2.5%.
The ECB's target for price stability is below or close to 2%. Europe's central bank decided to maintain its main interest rate at 1.5% last week despite fears of a new euro zone-wide recession and rising inflation.
Inflation also rose in the wider, 27-nation European Union to 3.3% in September compared to 2.9% a month earlier.
Euro zone posts €3.4 billion trade deficit in August
The euro zone recorded an external trade deficit of €3.4 billion in August, an improvement from the same month last year, official figures showed on Friday.
The euro zone had posted a deficit of €6.3 billion in August 2010, according to the Eurostat data agency. Exports rose by 4.7% and imports were up 2.7% in August compared to July on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
The euro zone had reported a trade surplus of €2.5 billion in July, the statistics office said.
The trade balance of the 27-nation European Union was again in the red in August, with a deficit of €17.8 billion. It had stood at €19.2 billion in August 2010. EU exports rose by 2.9% and imports by 3.2% in August compared to July.
The bloc posted a trade deficit of €9 billion in July.
