RobertB
December 15th, 2007, 12:21 AM
Inflation in Euro Zone Climbs
Dec 14 09:24 AM US/Eastern
By AOIFE WHITE
AP Business Writer
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Inflation in the 13 nations that use the euro surged to 3.1 percent in November versus a year earlier, its highest level in more than six years, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.
Food prices have not risen so quickly since 2001 to 2002 as bad weather and rising world demand for dairy products push up the cost of milk and cheese.
Eurostat said dairy, transport fuel and heating oil were the main factors pushing prices up from a year ago, revising higher their initial estimate that inflation would hit 3 percent during the month.
Year-on-year inflation in the euro zone was 2.6 percent in October and 2.1 percent in September. It last hit 3.1 percent in May 2001, seven months before the euro came into circulation.
It is now well over a guideline of just under 2 percent that the European Central Bank looks to when it decides whether to raise interest rates to boost borrowing costs.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TH95I00&show_article=1
Dec 14 09:24 AM US/Eastern
By AOIFE WHITE
AP Business Writer
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Inflation in the 13 nations that use the euro surged to 3.1 percent in November versus a year earlier, its highest level in more than six years, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.
Food prices have not risen so quickly since 2001 to 2002 as bad weather and rising world demand for dairy products push up the cost of milk and cheese.
Eurostat said dairy, transport fuel and heating oil were the main factors pushing prices up from a year ago, revising higher their initial estimate that inflation would hit 3 percent during the month.
Year-on-year inflation in the euro zone was 2.6 percent in October and 2.1 percent in September. It last hit 3.1 percent in May 2001, seven months before the euro came into circulation.
It is now well over a guideline of just under 2 percent that the European Central Bank looks to when it decides whether to raise interest rates to boost borrowing costs.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TH95I00&show_article=1