As energy and food prices in the region continue to go up, European inflation has risen to a new record high.
According to initial estimates released Monday, prices in the 19 countries that use the euro increased by 10.7% in October, up from 9.9% in September.
Energy prices went up by nearly 42% year-over-year, while the cost of food, alcohol and tobacco increased by more than 13%.
Prices in the services sector climbed faster in October than in September. That was a worrying sign for policymakers who had hoped that easing supply chain pressures would help bring inflation down.
Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, went up to 11.6%. It went to 12.8% in Italy, while France's rate rose to 7.1%. Consumer price inflation in the US was 8.2% in September.
Europe's economy is growing despite inflation woes. Between July and September, the euro area and the European Union both saw 0.2% growth in gross domestic product compared to the previous quarter, as post-lockdown spending and a summer tourism boost helped offset the impact of the rising cost of living.
Economists believe a recession will occur over the winter as energy prices pressure Europeans to watch their wallets and push businesses to hoard cash. Even though they have fallen sharply since peaking in August, natural gas prices are hurting industrial production.
Bert Colijn, a senior economist at ING, said in a note to clients that the picture remains bleak. The reopening of economies boosted services but that effect is now fading. Investment expectations are weak, because investment expectations are not as strong as they were with interest rates up and the economic outlook uncertain. We still expect the economy to contract over the coming quarters. The data is a warning sign for the United States, which has yet to release its October data. While the country is more insulated than Europe from the inflation effects of the war in Ukraine, it's also struggling to cap price rises, forcing the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates at a rapid clip.