French Inflation Lowest In More Than 2 Years

(RTTNews) - France consumer price inflation eased to the lowest in more than two years in February, provisional data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Thursday.

Consumer price inflation softened to 2.9 percent from 3.1 percent in the prior month. This was the lowest rate since December 2021, when inflation stood at 2.8 percent.

Economists had forecast consumer prices to climb 2.7 percent.

The decrease in inflation reflects the slowdown in prices of food, manufactured products and services costs.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index, or CPI, gained 0.8 percent, in contrast to the 0.2 percent fall in January. Economists had forecast prices to rise 0.7 percent.

EU harmonized inflation weakened to 3.1 percent in February from 3.4 percent in January. Inflation was seen at 3.0 percent. The 3.1 percent was the lowest since September 2021.

Month-on-month, the harmonized index of consumer prices advanced 0.9 percent, following a 0.2 percent drop a month ago. Final data is due on March 15.

Another data from the statistical office INSEE showed that producer prices in the home market declined 5.1 percent annually after easing 1.3 percent in December.

Producer prices fell markedly by 1.3 percent month-on-month in January.

The statistical office today said that the second largest euro area economy grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter after stagnating in the third quarter. The economy was initially estimated to have stagnated.

In January, France's household consumption declined for the second straight month, another data showed today. Household spending slid 0.7 percent, following a 0.3 percent decline in the prior month.

This drop was due to a fall in purchases of manufactured goods, particularly cars, while spending on energy and food consumption increased in January.