Swiss inflation steady at 3.0% in November as expected

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss consumer price inflation held steady at 3.0% in November but still overshot the Swiss National Bank’s 0-2% target range for the 10th month in a row, data showed on Thursday.

Economists had on average expected the year-on-year rate to hold steady at October’s 3.0%, off peaks at mid-year that touched a nearly three-decade high.

Prices were unchanged month-on-month as rent, gas, fuel and red wine prices increased while those for heating oil, vegetables and hotel accommodation fell.

Core inflation that strips out volatile items like fuel and food prices rose 0.1% versus October and 1.9% year-on-year.

Swiss National Bank officials have repeatedly flagged a rate hike at the central bank’s quarterly policy review announcement on Dec. 15. The SNB has already hiked rates twice this year to fight inflationary pressure.

The inflation data follow news on Tuesday that the Swiss economy grew a real 0.2% in the third quarter versus the second three months of 2022 and slowed to 0.5% year-on-year, lagging market expectations.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Miranda Murray)