Eurozone inflation hits 2-year high

BRUSSELS: Eurozone consumer prices rose to a near two-year high in September offering hope that a disputed program by the ECB to stimulate the economy may be delivering.

The Eurostat statistics agency on Friday said inflation in the 19-country currency bloc rose to time it has hit that level since

Eurozone unemployment mean with forecasts by analysts.

- tion is a huge worry for the European Central Bank, whose goal is

- sumer demand in the economy reached in August, the level remains low and means Europe is still short

“Concerns about the price growth environment remain high Colijn, senior economist at ING Bank, referring to an inflation measure that excludes oil prices.

Analysts unanimously pointed to energy prices as the cause of the of energy prices weakened to -3 percent in September from -5.6 percent in August.

In addition, the still unclear effects of Brexit will pose problems for achieving higher rates of inflation.

Any boost to consumer prices “is likely to be limited by lack it is hampered by increased political uncertainties including the UK’s vote to leave the European Union,” said Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.

The ECB earlier this month decided to hold its record-low interest rates steady in a bid to encourage

It also opted to leave intact the bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy, choosing to stay the course with a massive asset-buying program to the

- ing to challenge our view that the ECB has more work to do to return sustained basis,” said Jack Allen, economist at Capital Economics.

The need to do more will irk critics, led by Germany, who say these policies are biting into the savings of Europeans and helping stoke the rise of populist politicians.

The data landed two days after session at the German parliament.

Angry lawmakers in Germany’s Bundestag warned that the ECB’s fact causing damage to the European economy.

In the unemployment data, youth joblessness remained at a dizzying percent in Spain. In Germany it was 6.9 per cent.