BRUSSELS, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The annual inflation rate in the 17-member eurozone dropped sharply from July to August, Euostat said Monday.
The official statistics office for the European Commission said the inflation rate for the 17-member currency region dropped from 1.6 percent to 1.3 percent July to August. In the larger, 28-member European Union, the annual inflation rate slowed to 1.5 percent in August.
The annual inflation rate for both regions has slowed dramatically from a year earlier. In the eurozone, the inflation rate 12 months prior was 2.6 percent. In the European Union in August 2012, the inflation rate stood at 2.7 percent.
For both regions, monthly inflation came to 0.1 percent in August.
The inflation rate in August was negative in Greece, Bulgaria and Latvia in August, with rates of minus 1 percent, minus 0.7 percent and minus 0.1 percent, respectively.
At a glance, prices dropping might seem like an accomplishment. But falling prices, called deflation, can trigger a hesitation to buy, which creates a stall in the economy. Companies then lay off workers because too few people are buying with the dynamics of deflation turning an economic stall into a rut.
Eurostat said the highest inflation rates in August were in Estonia, the Netherlands and Romania, with annual rates of 3.6 percent, 2.8 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.
In Germany and France, the region's two largest economies, annual inflation was posted at 1.6 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
