Eurozone inflation slows to just 2.4% in November

(Sharecast News) - Eurozone inflation slowed much more than expected in November, according to figures released Thursday by Eurostat, raising hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) may move to cut interest rates sooner than predicted. The annual change in consumer prices slowed to just 2.4% this month, closing in on the ECB's target for headline inflation of 2%.

This was down from 2.9% in October and below the 2.7% expected by economists.

Month-on-month, consumer prices actually declined by 0.5% after increasing 0.1% the month before.

Meanwhile, core annual inflation - which excludes volatile items like food and energy - eased to 3.6% from 4.2% the month before and under the 3.6% rate forecast by analysts.