Euro area annual inflation is estimated at -0.3% in September 2020, down from -0.2% in August, according to a flash estimate issued by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 2 October.
Among the 18 countries for which data is available (all except Austria), the lowest rates were observed in Greece (-2.3%), Cyprus (-1.9%), Estonia (-1.3%), Ireland (-1.1%), Portugal and Slovenia (-0.7%), Spain (-0.6%), and Germany (-0.4%). The highest rates were observed in Slovakia (1.5%), Lithuania and Finland (0.6%), Malta and Belgium (0.5%).
Unemployment. Among the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in September (1.8%, compared to 1.7% in August), while energy price pressures continue to fall sharply (-8.2%, compared to -7.8% in August).
On the other hand, in August 2020, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate continued to rise for five consecutive months to 8.1% (7.4% at EU level). Compared to July 2020, the number of people unemployed increased by 238,000 in the EU and by 251,000 in the euro area. In August 2020, the youth unemployment rate was 17.6% in the EU and 18.1% in the euro area.
Saving. In the second quarter, the household saving rate was 24.6% in the euro area, compared to 16.6% in the first quarter of 2020. The value and the quarter-over-quarter increase (+8.0 percentage points) are the highest observed since the beginning of the time series in 1999. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)