Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.0% in October, up from 1.7% in September, according to a flash estimate published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Monday 31 October.
Price rises were highest in Belgium (4.7%), Estonia (4.5%), Croatia and Slovakia (3.5%). They were zero in Slovenia, very low in Ireland and Lithuania (0.1%) and low in Luxembourg (0.9%) and Italy (1.0%). Inflation was under control in France (1.5%) and Spain (1.8%), but more sustained in Germany (2.4%).
In terms of the main components of euro area inflation, services are expected to have the highest annual rate in October (3.9%), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.9%), non-energy industrial goods (0.5%) and energy (-4.6%).
Growth. The day before, Eurostat had estimated, on the basis of incomplete data, that seasonally-adjusted GDP increased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU compared with the previous quarter.
Of the thirteen Member States for which data are available, Ireland (2.0%) recorded the strongest growth compared to the second quarter, followed by Lithuania (1.1%) and Spain (0.8%). Declines were recorded in Hungary (-0.7%), Latvia (-0.4%) and Sweden (-0.1%). GDP growth was flat in Italy, weak in Germany (0.2%) and moderate in France (0.4%).
In the second quarter, GDP increased by 0.2% in the euro area and 0.3% in the EU.
Unemployment. Also according to Eurostat, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.3% in September, or 10.88 million people, a stable figure compared with August. At EU level, the figure was 5.9%, or 13.04 million people, also stable compared with the previous month. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)