Spain Inflation Rises As Estimated

(RTTNews) - Spain inflation accelerated in December, as initially estimated, on transportation cost, revised data from the statistical office INE showed Wednesday.

Consumer price inflation rose to 2.8 percent in December from 2.4 percent in November. A similar higher rate was last seen in July.

The EU harmonized inflation also advanced to 2.8 percent from 2.4 percent. This was the highest inflation since last July, when prices were up 2.9 percent.

Underlying inflation came in at 2.6 percent, up from 2.4 percent a month ago, data showed.

The increase was driven by higher cost of transport and leisure and culture. Transport costs increased 0.6 percent and leisure and culture advanced 3.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer price inflation rose more-than-estimated to 0.5 percent from 0.2 percent in November. The statistical office initially estimated monthly inflation at 0.4 percent.

At the same time, the harmonized index gained 0.4 percent on month, as estimated, after remaining flat in the previous month.