Annual inflation in the Euro area is expected to hit 2.0% in May, up from 1.6% in April, according to the Eurostat press release. Energy is projected to post the highest increase in inflation to 13.1%, up from April’s 10.4%.
Inflation in services is expected at 1.1% from 0.9% in April while non-energy industrial goods are expected to record inflation of 0.7% from 0.4% in April.
Food, alcohol, & tobacco is expected to record an inflation of 0.6%, a stable level from April.
The expected jump in inflation in the euro area comes even as the unemployment rate fell to 8.0% in April from 8.1% in March.
The EU employment rate came lower than the euro area at 7.3% in April, stable from March’s level, but higher than 6.7% posted in April 2020.
European stocks and the euro are currently gaining. DAX is up 1.10%, EURUSD is up 0.22%
