Economics

Inflation figures for December show that for the third month running inflation has increased on both sides of the Atlantic, including Ireland. In Ireland the rate in December was 1.4% having been half that in October. It should be noted, however, that by international standards that is quite low. In the US the December rate is now 2.9% and in the EU, 2.4%, both figures outside the monetary target. This did not stop the ECB from cutting its main rate by 0.25% at its January meeting on the basis that the Euro economy is going slowly . In the US the opposite is the case and in January the Fed held its main rate at 4.5%. In Ireland, the increase in inflation is mostly attributable to services prices, mostly the hospitality sector, where prices increased by 2.7% in December.