French inflation continues to pick up in April to highest since July last year

CPI +2.2% vs +2.0% y/y expected Prior +1.7% HICP +2.5% vs +2.3% y/y expected Prior +2.0% Food price inflation eased to 1.3% from 1.8% in March but services inflation picked up to 1.9% from 1.7% previously. The main culprit for the surge in inflation though remains energy prices, which are seen up 14.2% year-on-year. That compares with the 7.4% year-on-year increase in March. It's no surprise really but it reaffirms that the fallout from the Middle East conflict is reverberating across the European economy. And this will bite at consumption activity and in the case of France, hamper domestic demand even further. That already as the scene has struggled for the most part over the years. A bad time to be hitting especially when the French economy has shown some bit part resilience since the middle of last year. Trouble, trouble. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.