Eurozone falls into deflation after oil price slide

The eurozone slid into deflationary territory in December for the first time in five years, according to preliminary figures released today.

CPI in the single currency area was -0.2% in December, prompted by a 6.3% fall in energy price inflation. The figure, which was lower than the -0.1% that had been expected by economists, represents the first time eurozone inflation has turned negative since 2009. Core inflation, which excludes volatile measures such as food and energy prices from inflation statistics, rose to 0.8%. The news comes two days after Germany, the largest eurozone economy, announced its lowest annual rate of inflation since October 2009. German inflation fell from 0.6% in November to 0.2% in December. ...