Eurozone consumer prices stagnated in October, while the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to its lowest level in about two-and-a-half years in September, preliminary figures from Eurostat revealed Friday.
The consumer price index remained unchanged from the same month a year ago, after declining 0.1 percent in September. The outcome was in line with economists’ expectations.
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose to 1 percent from 0.9 percent. Economists had expected the figure to remain steady.
Prices of unprocessed food surged 3 percent and services costs rose 1.3 percent. Energy prices continued to slump, down 8.7 percent.
Separately, Eurostat announced that the unemployment rate for the euro area fell to 10.8 percent in September from a revised 10.9 percent in August. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged at August’s original figure of 11 percent.
It was the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since January 2012, the agency said.
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