Annual inflation in the euro zone was the same in August as in July, defying economists' expectations of a slowdown, as rising prices of unprocessed food and services offset some of the downward pull from cheaper energy. Eurostat said euro zone prices rose 0.2% year-on-year this month, the same as in July and more than the 0.1% forecast by ecomomists.
Excluding both volatile energy and unprocessed food prices -- a measure the ECB calls core inflation -- consumer prices rose 0.9 percent year-on-year, the same as in July.