Energy rise ends four months of eurozone deflation

The eurozone ended four months of deflation in April, with consumer prices unchanged from year-ago levels, removing the threat of persistent price declines as energy costs pushed up in the month.

Consumer prices in the 19 countries that share the euro were flat in April from a year earlier after a 0.1% decline in March, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat estimated.

The bottoming out of price declines is likely to be welcome news for the ECB, which wants to keep inflation below, but close to 2% over the medium-term.