Euro zone inflation accelerated as expected in December, an estimate from the EU statistics office Eurostat showed on Tuesday, while retail sales turned out stronger than predicted in a sign of rising household demand. Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries that share the euro rose 1.3% year-on-year in December for a 0.3% gain on the month. The year-on-year rise matched forecasts of economists polled by Reuters, accelerating from 1.0% in November. Inflation’s faster growth was mainly due to a 0.2% year-on-year increase in energy prices, which were down 3.2% the previous month. Also unprocessed food prices rose 2.1% year-on-year accelerating from a 1.8% rise in November. Without the two volatile components, inflation was steady at 1.4% in December. An […]