French Inflation Strengthens in November

French inflation strengthened in November for the fourth month in a row, statistics showed Thursday.

Consumer prices in the eurozone's second-largest economy rose 0.1% on month and 1.2% on year, supported by an acceleration in energy and services prices and a slower decline in the prices of manufactured goods, statistics agency Insee said.

Still, the increase was slightly below economists' expectations, who had forecast a rise of 0.2% on month and 1.3% on year.

The gradual strengthening of inflation underscores an uptick in the French economy over the past year and provides some relief to the European Central Bank, which recently extended its asset-purchasing program as it attempts to drive inflation toward its 2% target.

France's HICP--the inflation index closely watched by the ECB--rose to 1.3% on year in November after climbing 1.2% on year in October, Insee said.

Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 30, 2017 03:14 ET (08:14 GMT)