Euro zone annual inflation unexpectedly slipped in January to 2.4 per cent but the core rate edged higher, European Union statistical agency Eurostat said on today.
The headline figure, which fell from 2.6 per cent in December, beat the average forecast by economists that January inflation would rise to 2.7 per cent.
Annual inflation fell in January in all euro zone countries except for the Netherlands, Austria and Portugal.
Inflation in Ireland, handed an unprecedented public "recommendation" on budgetary policy from its 14 EU partners earlier this month, dropped sharply to 3.9 per cent in January from 4.6 per cent in December, Eurostat said.
In the Netherlands, annual inflation rose to a provisional 4.5 per cent in January from 2.9 per cent in December while in Austria it rose to a provisional 2.2 per cent from 1.8 per cent, Eurostat said.
Separately, Eurostat reported that euro zone seasonally adjusted unemployment rose to 8.8 per cent in January from 8.7 per cent in December. Ireland's unemployment rate as measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey was 4.7 per cent in December.
Economists said lower energy prices in January had made the figure look somewhat better than it is.
They noted the closely watched core rate, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, ticked up to 1.6 per cent in January after holding steady for three months at 1.5 per cent.
The ECB is legally obliged to achieve price stability in the euro zone - a goal it has defined as a rate of inflation at between zero and 2 per cent.