01/06/23 (Agence Europe) – The euro area’s annual inflation is expected to be 6.1% in May 2023, down from 7.0% in April, according to a flash estimate published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Tuesday 1 June. It stood at 2.9% in Spain, 6.0% in France, 6.3% in Germany and 8.1% in Italy. Looking at the main components of inflation in the euro area, food, alcohol and tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in May (12.5%, compared with 13.5% in April), followed by non-energy industrial goods (5.8%), services (5.0%) and energy (-1.7%, compared with 2.4% in April). According to Eurostat, the euro area unemployment rate was 6.5% in April, or around 11 million people, compared with 6.6% in March. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in April, or around 13 million people. (MB)