Norway Inflation Rises To 3.6%

(RTTNews) - Norway's consumer price inflation reached a seven-month high in September but core inflation softened to the lowest since May, official data revealed Friday.

The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 3.6 percent after climbing 3.5 percent in August, Statistics Norway said. A similar higher rate was last reported in February. Prices were expected to climb at a steady pace of 3.5 percent.

However, core inflation weakened to 3.0 percent from 3.1 percent in August, marking the lowest since May.

On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices rose 0.4 percent and core consumer prices gained 0.2 percent in September.

Data showed that within overall CPI, food, housing and communication logged the biggest annual growth.

The cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages advanced 6.3 percent and that of housing, water and utility advanced 6.2 percent. Communication costs moved up 6.4 percent.