The stalls at the 590th Dresden Striezelmarkt were brightly lit at the opening.
Sebastian Canat | Photo Alliance | Getty Images
Statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday that the euro zone’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.3% in November, once again above the European Central Bank’s 2% target.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected annual interest rates to be 2.3% this month, up from 2% in October.
As the deflationary pull from energy prices weakened, as expected, price growth in the group moved higher for two months in a row, after falling to 1.7% in September.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, remained at 2.7% for the third consecutive month in November.
The core interest rate was supported by the stickiness of service sector inflation, which fell only slightly to 3.9% in November from 4% last month.
The market has fully priced in the impact of the European Central Bank’s 25 basis point interest rate cut in December, which will mark the fourth rate cut this year.
speculation Chances that the central bank might be forced to cut interest rates by a further 50 basis points have faded since last month as weak euro zone growth prospects improved slightly and inflation rebounded.
Inflation is coming Slightly higher than forecast In October, ECB policymakers, including Executive Board member Isabelle Schnabel, had Emphasize the need for caution In terms of monetary easing.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated soon.
