French inflation ticks up in Dec

PARIS, Jan 04 (AFP): Inflation in the eurozone's second-largest economy France accelerated in December, official data showed Thursday, with food prices a persistent sore point for consumers. Prices grew 3.7 per cent year-on-year last month, statistics authority Insee said in preliminary figures, up from the 3.5 per cent pace in November.

There had been "acceleration... in the price of energy and services," Insee said, although price growth slowed for manufactured goods and the closely-watched food items in the consumer basket.

With food inflation still running at 7.1 per cent last month, many shoppers have been switching to lower-cost alternatives.