Eurozone inflation rose to 2% in May. This is the first time in more than two years that the interest rate has exceeded the ECB’s target, complicating decision makers next week on whether to maintain ultra-loose monetary policy.

Before the 1.6% jump in April, consumer prices in the U.S. have grown faster and have recently reached 4.2%.The appreciation of the euro zone may exacerbate investor anxiety that the central bank will advance Lopsided They launched huge monetary stimulus measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic last year.

The European Central Bank’s Governing Council will meet next week to decide whether to adjust its monetary policy — including the recent acceleration of bond purchases — in response to signs that the Covid-19 blockade eases economic activity and prices are rising.

The euro zone inflation rate rebounded after being below zero last year for several months, prompting most economists to predict that this year’s inflation rate will exceed the European Central Bank’s target of close to but below 2%.

However, several European Central Bank policymakers, including the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said that the recent surge in inflation is Only a temporary phenomenon, Driven by a one-off effect, and it is predicted that it will subside next year. They believe that this means that the central bank’s policy should remain highly accommodative.

The 13.1% year-on-year increase in energy prices in the Eurozone was the main factor driving the 19-country single currency zone consumer price coordination index slightly higher than expected to the highest level since October 2018. Eurostat.

Excluding the volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, the core inflation rate rose modestly from the overall figure, from 0.7% in April to 0.9% in May. Prices of services in the euro zone, affected by the lockdown caused by the coronavirus, rose by 1.1%.

Most economists believe that the Eurozone is unlikely to sustain inflation above the target, while millions of people are still unemployed, on vacation or leaving the labor market during the pandemic.

The European Central Bank estimates that wage growth in the Eurozone slowed further to 1.4% in the first quarter.

Commerzbank economist Christoph Weil said: “The euro zone recession triggered by the new crown epidemic will continue to inhibit wage growth in 2021.”

Eurostat said on Tuesday that the EU unemployment rate fell to 8% in April, the lowest level in nine months. The number of unemployed dropped to 15.4 million, 134,000 fewer than in March, but still nearly 1.3 million higher than in April 2020.

Capital Economics economist Andrew Kenningham said that although the number of recruits is expected to increase as the lockdown is lifted, “the company will be able to take advantage of workers on leave, so we expect the unemployment rate to be low. Will decline rapidly this year. Years.”

A closely watched business survey released on Tuesday showed that supply-side inflationary pressures are building, which shows that Eurozone manufacturers are facing unprecedented product shortages and price increases, which limit their ability to meet growing global demand.

IHS Markit’s Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index found that “average input costs have risen sharply again… Due to widespread product shortages, they have reached unprecedented levels”. It stated that the factory “increased its own expenses at the fastest rate with more than 18 years of data availability, thereby taking advantage of the increased pricing power.”

In addition, according to a survey conducted by the Ifo Institute in Munich, 44% of German construction companies have problems purchasing materials in a timely manner. “Timber prices have almost skyrocketed in recent months and sawmills can’t keep up,” said Felix Leiss of Ifo.