A woman in a protective face mask shops for fruits and vegetables at the Bastille Market in Paris as a lock-down is imposed to slow the growth of the coronaviruses COVID - 19 in France, March 19, 2020. PARIS, February 1, Reuters -- French inflation fell less than expected in January, as it cooled back from a 13 year high on lower prices for manufactured goods due to winter sales, preliminary EU-harmonised data showed on Tuesday.
In January consumer prices rose 0.1%, giving a 12 month inflation rate of 3.3%, down from 3.4% in December. Economists polled by Reuters had an average forecast of 3.0%.
Almost all other prices for manufactured goods fell, and energy prices went up 19.7% over a year, after increases in global oil markets.
Its consumer price index rose slightly to 2.9% from 2.8% in December, reaching its highest level since September 2008, despite not using the EU-agreed methodology to calculate inflation.
The national index is more closely followed in France, while the EU-harmonised index is used outside France to compare inflation rates among countries using the euro.