Euro area CPI picks-up in April, as expected

The cost of living in the euro area picked up in April amid broad gains for inflation across all categories.

Last month, the headline consumer price index advanced at a 0.4% month-on-month and 1.9% year-on-year clip, according to Eurostat.

That was exactly as economists had forecast.

In March, CPI rose at a pace of 1.5%.

Core consumer prices, excluding the cost of food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, increased by 0.5% on the month and 1.2% on the year.

Expectations were for a year-on-year advance of 1.2% in core prices.

From among the single currency bloc's largest economies, the largest gains in prices when comparing with March were observed in Spain (0.9%), Italy (0.8%) and the Netherlands (0.9%).

CPI in Germany on the other hand was flat versus the prior month and ahead by just 0.1% in France.