DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish inflation increased at a faster year-on-year pace for the first time in six months in August, rising to 4.9% from 4.6% a month before, a flash estimate of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) showed on Wednesday.
The HICP rate excluding energy and unprocessed food, known by economists as core inflation and seen as a better gauge of the underlying trend, fell to 4.8% year-on-year from 5% in July and back below the headline rate for the first time since May.
The headline rate increased by 0.5% month-on-month, with energy prices estimated to have risen by 3.4% on the month while food prices were flat on a monthly basis.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)