Inflation ticked up in Europe in May. That likely won’t stop a central bank rate cut next week

By DAVID McHUGH
AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation ticked up to an annual 2.6% in Europe in May. The new figure released on Friday is more than expected as a painful spike in consumer prices takes its time to fade away. Yet that’s unlikely to stop the European Central Bank from making a first interest rate cut next week and moving ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve in lowering borrowing costs for businesses and consumers. European Union statistics from agency Eurostat show the official figure for the 20 countries that use the euro currency compares to 2.4% in April.