Eurozone Inflation Hits New High, Pressuring ECB to Raise Key Rate More Forcefully

The eurozone’s annual rate of inflation accelerated to a fresh record high in June, increasing the pressure on policy makers at the European Central Bank to move more aggressively after they start raising their key interest rate later this month.

The European Union’s statistics agency said Friday that consumer prices were 8.6% higher than a year earlier, a pickup from the 8.1% rate of inflation recorded in May and the highest since records began in early 1997.