French Inflation Eases Less Than Expected in January

A woman, wearing a protective face mask, shops for fruits and vegetables at the Bastille Market in Paris as a lockdown is imposed to slow the rate of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, on March 19, 2020. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

PARIS—French inflation fell less than expected in January as it eased back from a 13-year high on lower prices for manufactured goods due to winter sales, preliminary EU-harmonised data showed on Tuesday.

The INSEE statistics agency said consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in January, giving a 12-month inflation rate of 3.3 percent, down from 3.4 percent in December. Economists polled by Reuters had on average forecast a rate of 3.0 percent.

While prices for manufactured goods fell, nearly all other prices were higher and energy prices were up 19.7 percent over one year following increases on global oil markets.

Not using the EU-agreed methodology to calculate inflation, INSEE said its consumer price index rose slightly to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent in December, reaching its highest level since September 2008.

The national index is more closely followed in France, while the EU-harmonised index is used outside France in order to compare inflation rates among countries using the euro.