The eurozone returned to inflation in May with a higher- than-expected increase in consumer prices after five months of falls and stagnation, due to rising food costs and the waning impact of cheap energy.

Economic sentiment in the eurozone rose to a seven-month high and German unemployment dropped, keeping the region on a recovery path as the ECB prepares to unleash its quantitative-easing programme.

As European Central Bank policy makers gather for their first meeting of 2015, the backdrop is a 0.2% annual drop in consumer prices, the first in more than five years.