Eurozone inflation picked up further in May as the Middle East war sent energy costs soaring, official data showed Tuesday, reinforcing the likelihood of an interest rate hike in the single currency area.
Consumer price rises accelerated to 3.2% last month, the EU's statistics agency Eurostat said, up from 3.0% in April.
The reading was in line with forecasts from analysts polled by Bloomberg but lower than the 3.3% predicted by economists for FactSet.
Inflation in the single currency area is sharply higher than the 2% target set by the European Central Bank (ECB), following a third consecutive rise.
Of particular importance for the ECB ahead of its next meeting on June 11 is core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices.
