In a development that may trigger talk of an interest rate cut, eurozone inflation falls again
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Inflation across the countries that share the euro fell further below the European Central Bank's target in January, a development that may stoke speculation of another interest rate reduction.
Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, says Friday that inflation in the 18-country eurozone fell to 0.7 percent in the year to January, down from 0.8 percent the previous month. The consensus in the markets was for a rise to 0.9 percent.
The fall is likely to trigger speculation that the eurozone is about to suffer a debilitating bout of deflation — falling prices can hurt an economy as consumers delay purchases in the hope of getting bargains down the line and businesses postpone investment.
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Separately Eurostat says eurozone unemployment fell by 129,000 in December. That's the biggest fall since April, 2007.