Eurozone inflation tops forecasts to hit 3-year high in September - Daily Sabah

Inflation in the eurozone jumped more than expected to reach its highest level in three years in September, as the war in the Middle East fueled a surge in energy costs, official data showed Friday. The consumer price index in the 21 nations sharing the euro currency jumped to 3.8% last month, driven primarily by fuel, natural gas, and to a lesser extent, food costs, according to data from Eurostat, the ​EU's statistics agency. The figure is up from 3.2% in August and is higher than the 3.7% forecast by economists for Bloomberg and 3.6% estimated in a Reuters poll. Inflation is likely to increase further in the coming months on soaring energy costs, keeping pressure on the ECB to hike rates again and governments to help struggling consumers.