19.09.201703:51:00UTC+00Eurozone Inflation Confirmed at 1.5% in August

The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone was confirmed at 1.5 percent by Eurostat. However, the European Central Bank cautions everyone not to get used to the pace of price increases.

According to the ECB, its staff sees the headline inflation rate to retreat to a low of 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2018.

Eurozone headline inflation notched its highest level in four months, official data revealed, confirming the European Union statistics office's flash estimate. Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro increased in August by 1.5 percent year-on-year and by 0.3 percent on the month.

Inflation continues to be below the ECB's target of almost two percent, but accelerated from 1.3 percent in July.

Energy prices rose 4.0 percent on the year and 0.7 percent month-on-month, the highest growth among the components of the indicator.

Prices in the services sector, the biggest in the eurozone economy, increased 1.6 percent in August on the year, the same rate as in June and July. Inflation was at 1.4 percent for food, alcohol and tobacco.

Prices rises were limited for non-energy industrial goods, excluding energy, higher by 0.5 percent year-on-year.