Euro-area consumer prices at zero growth in April as expected

Euro-area consumer prices registered zero growth in April compared to a year ago, as expected by analysts, according to an initial estimate from Eurostat.

It marked an improvement from the previous month's 0.1% year-on-year decline, adding to the European Central Bank's (ECB) argument that its quantitative easing programme is helping to bring inflation back towards the target of just below 2%.

The increase was driven by rises in services, food and alcohol prices.

Separately, the unemployment rate remained at 11.3% in March, surprising analysts who had expected a fall to 11.2%.

Christian Schulz, analyst at Berenberg, said the CPI data was "not yet a sign of fading domestic disinflationary pressures, as the painfully slow decline in unemployment evidenced in today’s unemployment data for March reminds us".

"Rather, an increase in volatile food price inflation from 0.6% to 0.9% yoy and the impact of the weaker euro on the prices of imported non-energy industrial goods (inflation up from 0.0% to 0.1%) has triggered the modest rebound," he said.