The bank also keeps a close eye on core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices. That annual figure dropped to 3.1 from 3.3 percent, but it is still significantly above the headline number. Consumer prices for some goods and services are still rising.
Central bankers are scheduled to meet next week, but most analysts don’t expect interest rates to drop until the middle of the year.
The Numbers: Country-by-country scorecards.
Europe’s two largest economies, Germany and France, both reported drops in consumer prices. Germany’s annual rate fell to 2.7 percent in February from 3.1 percent the previous month. France registered a decline to 3.1 percent, its lowest level in two and a half years, from 3.4 percent. In Spain, the annual rate dropped to 2.9 percent from 3.5 percent in January.
Italy and Latvia had the lowest inflation rates, below 1 percent. Austria, Croatia and Estonia were at the top end, with rates above 4 percent.
Bottom Line: It’s all about energy prices.
“This is still mainly an energy based story,” Carsten Brzeski, an economist at the Dutch bank ING, said, referring to the decline in prices from last year. “What we’re seeing in terms of year-over-year inflation is dropping prices in oil, gas and electricity.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
