French Inflation Rate Unexpectedly Sinks to Five-Year Low

French inflation unexpectedly eased to a five-year low, staying well short of the European Central Bank’s 2% target as energy prices fell.

Consumer prices rose 0.4% from a year ago in January after a 0.7% advance the previous month, statistics agency Insee said. That’s below the 0.6% median estimate of 20 analysts polled by Bloomberg. Only one predicted the outcome, which was the weakest pace since December 2020.