Inflation eased only slightly in the 20 countries that use the euro currency as the pain from higher costs for food and fuel persists and gives the European Central Bank no reason to slow interest rate increases aimed at getting prices back under control.
The consumer price index reached 8.5% in February compared with a year earlier, a drop from 8.6% in January, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday. The figure was higher than analysts' expectations of 8.3%.
