Euro-Area March Inflation Slows Less Than Estimated

Euro-area inflation slowed less than economists forecast in March as steeper price increases for services offset an easing in energy costs.

Annual price growth in the 17-nation economy was 1.7 percent, down from 1.8 percent in February, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That compares with the 1.6 percent median of 44 economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The inflation rate moved below the European Central Bank’s 2 percent ceiling in February for the first time in more than two years.