Euro zone consumers see lower inflation in March
Euro zone consumers perceived lower inflation in March for the sixth consecutive month, seeing it at 5% over the past 12 months, down from 5.5% in February, the ECB said on Thursday.
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Economia Zona Euro
The ECB (European Central Bank) indicated that consumers also revised down their inflation expectations for the next 12 months, from 3.1% in February to 3% in March, the lowest forecast since December 2021, while for the next three years they kept it unchanged at 2.5%.
Eurozone inflation slowed by two tenths in March to 2.4%, while core inflation - which excludes energy and food for being more volatile - also fell by two tenths to 2.9%, according to data from the EU statistical office, Eurostat.
Consumers expect their income to grow by 1.3% in the next 12 months, one tenth of a percentage point less than in the previous month, while their perception of spending in the next 12 months fell to 3.6%, against 3.7% in February.
In March, respondents to the ECB survey predicted a 1.1% contraction in the economy next year, keeping the previous month's expectations unchanged, and revised the unemployment rate down by two tenths of a percentage point, to 10.7%.
In addition, they expected house prices to rise by 2.4% in the next 12 months, the same percentage as in February, although they revised down their expectations for interest rates by one tenth of a percentage point, to 5%.
Read Also: Household savings in the eurozone were 14.7% in the 4th quarter of 2023 (Portuguese version)
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