31/08/2023 (Agence Europe) – The euro area’s annual inflation rate is expected to be 5.3% in August, stable compared to July, according to a flash estimate published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Wednesday 31 August. The lowest rates were observed in Belgium and Spain (2.4% each), while the highest were in Slovakia (9.6%) and Croatia (8.5%). In terms of the main components of inflation, food, alcohol and tobacco are expected to have the highest annual rate in August (9.8%), followed by services (5.5%), industrial goods excluding energy (4.8%) and energy (-3.3%). Also according to Eurostat, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area was 6.4% in July, stable compared with the rate recorded in June. In the EU, it was 5.9%, also stable compared with June. (MB)