Euro zone inflation accelerated in September as energy costs soared, new Eurostat figures show.
But core prices rose at their slowest pace for a year, likely leaving the European Central Bank on track to cut interest rates in coming months.
Consumer prices in the 17 countries sharing the euro rose 2.7% year-on-year, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said today in a first estimate.
That marked a rise from 2.6% in August and beat market expectations of 2.5%.
Eurostat said energy prices jumped 9.2% in September after a 8.9% rise the previous month. But core inflation, excluding both energy and unprocessed foods, fell to 1.7%, its lowest level in a year.
Together with recent data indicating that the euro zone economy entered a recession in the third quarter, the inflation reading did nothing to dampen economists' expectations that the ECB will deliver a growth-boosting rate cut soon.
Analysts said it seems highly likely that the ECB will take interest rates down from 0.75% to 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Most believe the ECB will make the move at its November meeting.
