by Baystreet Staff
Bay Street
Europe’s inflation rate declined to an annualized rate of 2.4% in February but came in slightly above the expectations of economists.
According to data from statistics agency Eurostat, core inflation, which takes out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco costs, declined to 2.6% in February from 2.7% the previous month.
Services inflation, which has proven sticky in recent months, also decreased, coming in at 3.7% on a year-over-year basis, down from 3.9% in January.
The main reason for the February decline in inflation was energy prices, which rose only 0.2% during the month compared to a 1.9% increase in January.