France's consumer price inflation slowed less than expected in August, final data from the statistical office Insee revealed on Thursday.
Consumer price inflation slowed to 5.9 percent in August from 6.1 percent in July. But the rate was slightly above the 5.8 percent estimated on August 31. Prices of manufactured goods rebounded 1.8 percent, in particular linked with the end of the summer sales. Food inflation advanced to 1.7 percent due to higher cost of fresh product prices.
Meanwhile, the increase in services cost eased to 0.3 percent from 1.3 percent. At the same time, energy prices dropped 3.9 percent.
EU harmonized inflation came in at 6.6 percent in August, down from 6.8 percent in the previous month. The preliminary estimate was 6.5 percent.
Month-on-month, the consumer price index gained 0.5 percent, faster than July's 0.3 percent rise and the flash 0.4 percent.
Likewise, the harmonized index of consumer prices moved up 0.5 percent on month after a 0.3 percent gain in July. The final rate was faster than the flash 0.4 percent.
Data showed that core inflation rose to 4.7 percent annually in August from 4.3 percent in July.
