Inflation in 19 nations using euro hits record

LONDON — Consumer prices across the 19 countries that use the euro currency are rising at a record rate as a result of a huge spike in energy costs this year, official figures showed Tuesday.

Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, said the eurozone’s annual inflation rate hit 4.9% in November, the highest since recordkeeping began in 1997 and up from 4.1% in October, the previous high mark.

Like others, the eurozone, which is made up of 19 economies including France and Germany, is enduring big price hikes as a result of the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and blockages in supply chains.

Across the eurozone, inflation is running at multiyear highs, including in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, where the annual rate has hit 6%. Even that is below the 6.2% recorded at last count in the U.S., the biggest 12-month jump since 1990.

The eurozone’s core inflation rate, which strips out potentially volatile items such as alcohol, energy, food and tobacco, also spiked higher in November to an annual rate of 2.6% from 2%.

Under normal circumstances, the increases would likely pile pressure on the European Central Bank to start mulling the prospect of raising its main interest rate from a record low of zero. The bank is tasked with setting policy to meet a 2% inflation target.

But the omicron variant has prompted some uncertainty over the global economic outlook. As a result, central banks around the world are expected to hold back from announcing any big policy changes soon. Were the variant to start affecting growth levels, then prices, such as oil, would likely drift lower, easing inflation rates worldwide.