Euro Inflation at Lowest in Over 4 Years Misses Estimates

Euro-area inflation slowed in March by more than economists forecast to the lowest level in over four years, keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to take action to foster the currency bloc’s recovery.

Consumer prices grew 0.5 percent in the year, after a 0.7 percent gain in February, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That missed the 0.6 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 41 economists. The inflation rate has been below 1 percent for six months, while the ECB seeks to keep it at just under 2 percent.