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Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19
countries sharing the euro rose 0.6 percent month-on-month for a
0.3 percent year-on-year fall, less sharp that a 0.6 percent
year-on-year decline in January.
The data confirms an earlier Eurostat estimate and is in line
with economists forecasts.
Energy prices rose 1.6 percent on the month, but fell 7.9
percent year-on-year in February. Cheaper fuels for transport
subtracted 0.64 percentage points from the overall end result ad
les expensive heating oil took off another 0.19 points.
Prices of unprocessed food, another volatile component of the
consumer price index, rose 0.8 percent on the month to increase
0.4 percent year-on-year -- the first annual rise since a 0.2
percent increase in November.
Without the energy and unprocessed food -- a measure the
European Central Bank calls core inflation -- prices rose 0.5
percent month-on-month for a 0.7 percent annual gain,
accelerating from the 0.6 percent year-on-year rate in January.
The ECB wants to keep inflation below, but close to 2 percent in
annual terms over the medium term and started buying euro zone
government bonds this month to inject cash into the economy and
make prices rise at a faster pace.
Separately, Eurostat said employment in the euro zone in the
final quarter of 2014 rose 0.1 percent against the previous
three months and was 0.9 percent higher than in the same period
of 2013.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
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