2018.09.2805:41:00UTC+00Italy Inflation Slows Unexpectedly In September

Italy's consumer price inflation eased unexpectedly in September, though slightly, preliminary estimate from the statistical office Istat showed Friday.

Consumer prices climbed 1.5 percent year-over-year in September, slower than the 1.6 percent rise in August. Meanwhile, economists had expected the inflation to accelerate to 1.7 percent.

The slight slowdown in inflation was mainly due to prices of unprocessed food, services related to transport and non-regulated energy products.

Core inflation that excludes energy and unprocessed food, remained stable at 0.8 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices decreased 0.4 percent in September versus the expected fall of 0.2 percent.

Inflation, based on the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, held steady at 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, the inflation was forecast to rise to 1.7 percent.

Month-over-month, the HICP increased 1.8 percent in September, in line with expectations.