Eurozone Inflation Rises Unexpectedly

(RTTNews) - Eurozone inflation rose unexpectedly in November and moved away from the European Central Bank's target, flash data published by Eurostat showed on Tuesday.

Inflation rose to 2.2 percent in November, while it was expected to remain unchanged at 2.1 percent.

The rate remained slightly above the ECB's 2 percent target. Final data is due on December 17.

Excluding volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, core inflation held steady at 2.4 percent, in line with expectations.

Looking at the main components of inflation, services showed the highest annual rate of 3.5 percent, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco, which registered a stable growth of 2.5 percent.

Non-energy industrial goods prices moved up 0.6 percent, while energy prices dropped 0.5 percent.

Last month, the ECB had retained its key interest rates for a third straight policy session. The deposit rate was last lowered by a quarter-point to the current level of 2.0 percent in June.

The governing council of the ECB will meet next in Frankfurt on December 17 and 18. Today's data reinforces the expectations that the bank will hold its rate again this month.