Portugal’s EU measure of inflation eased unexpectedly in November to the lowest level in seven months, figures from Statistics Portugal showed Friday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 0.6 percent year-over-year in November, slightly slower than previous month’s 0.7 percent climb. Economists had expected the inflation to accelerate to 0.8 percent.

The latest rate of inflation was the lowest since April this year, when prices grew 0.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, the HICP dropped 0.4 percent in November, exceeding economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent decrease. In October, prices had fallen 0.2 percent.

At the same time, the consumer price inflation held steady at 0.6 percent in November, in line with expectations.

Excluding unprocessed food and energy, core inflation eased slightly to 0.9 percent in November from 1.0 percent in the prior month.

Month-on-month, consumer prices edged down 0.2 percent in November, reversing a 0.1 percent rise in October. The figure was also matched with consensus estimate.

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com