Reuters

Euro zone inflation unexpectedly hits new record high

Wed, February 2, 2022, 5:00 AM

FRANKFURT, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation rose to a new record high last month, defying expectations for a big drop and adding to already copious doubts that price pressures are as benign and temporary as the European Central Bank still expects.

Inflation in the 19-country euro zone accelerated to 5.1% in January from 5% in December, well ahead of expectations for a drop to 4.4%, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said on Wednesday.

Soaring energy prices continued to drive inflation but food prices also surged, while services and industrial goods inflation remained uncomfortably high.

At 5.1%, price growth is more than twice the ECB's 2% target but the central bank, which holds a policy meeting on Thursday, has for months shrugged off the data, arguing that temporary factors are behind the rise and inflation will abate on its own.

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