CPI +2.4% vs +2.4% y/y prelimPrior +2.2%HICP +2.8% vs +2.8% y/y prelimPrior +2.5%Core CPI +1.5% y/yPrior +1.2%
French inflation is seen picking up in May as we also see a broadening in price pressures in general. Headline annual inflation reaffirms a further increase in price pressures, with the acceleration in energy prices remaining the main culprit (+16.6%).
That being said, there was also a jump in services inflation (+2.1% compared to +1.8% in April). And that stickiness remains a problem, outweighing the slight decline in food price inflation (+1.1% compared to +1.2% in April).
Even on the monthly core estimate, services inflation was up by 0.4% while food price inflation was down by 0.1%. At the balance, that saw core prices move up by 0.3% on the month and 1.5% year-on-year.
The latter points to a further pick up in core inflation pressures, which indicate a wider breadth in terms of the increase in prices in the French economy. And that’s not a good sign ahead of the summer months as the Middle East conflict continues to drag on.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.