Euro area CPI slips in June, but core rate picks up

Headline Eurozone inflation dipped in June but the key measure of underlying price pressures picked up.

The headline rate of consumer prices slipped from a 1.4% year-on-year pace in May to 1.3% for June, according to preliminary data from Eurostat.

A slower pace of price gains for unprocessed food and energy were the main culprits, with the former slipping from a 2.2% clip to 1.6% and the latter from 4.5% to 1.9%.

However, 'core' CPI, which excludes energy, food and alcohol and tobacco picked up from a 0.9% clip in the month before to 1.1%.

Prices for processed foods, alocohol and tobacco accelerated from a 1.5% gain in May to 1.6%, while those for non-energy industrial goods picked up from a rate of 0.3% to 0.4%.

The most marked acceleration in price gains was seen in those for services, which rose at an annual rate of 1.6% in June versus 1.5% in May.