By Maria Martinez
BERLIN (Reuters) – German inflation fell slightly in August but was still higher than forecast, data showed on Wednesday, as the downward trend since the start of the year slowed.
German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, increased by 6.4% on the year in August, according to preliminary data from the federal statistics office.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast harmonised annual inflation of 6.3% after a reading of 6.5% in July.
Non-harmonised inflation in Germany fell to 6.1% in August from 6.2% the previous month.
The data from Germany, the euro zone’s biggest economy, come as the European Central Bank is still looking for evidence that underlying inflation has turned a corner.
Germany’s core inflation rate, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, stood at 5.5% in August, unchanged from July.
(Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Friederike Heine)
