FRANKFURT--The eurozone's trade surplus increased in August from the previous year, according to a report Friday, suggesting that a weaker euro since 2014 has provided some support to the region's economy.
The surplus in goods trade was EUR11.2 billion euros ($12.8 billion) in August, compared with a EUR7.4 billion surplus during the corresponding month in 2014, the European Union's statistics office Eurostat said in a monthly report. Those figures weren't adjusted for seasonal variations in the data.
Still, there were some signs in the data that weaker global demand is beginning to have an effect on exports. On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports fell EUR2.2 billion from the previous month, to EUR169.5 billion. Imports rose a bit, meaning the seasonally adjusted trade surplus narrowed slightly compared with July's record high level.
"Softer export performance may reflect some weakening in emerging-market demand and the modest rising trend in the euro since March," said analysts at BNP Paribas, in a research note.
In a separate report, Eurostat said that consumer prices in the eurozone fell 0.1% on an annual basis in September, confirming the previous flash estimate. Excluding volatile items such as food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, core inflation was 0.9% in September, unchanged from August's rate.
The European Central Bank aims to keep inflation near 2% over the medium term. Austria's central bank Governor Ewald Nowotny said Thursday that the ECB is "clearly missing" its inflation target.
Continued weakness in price pressures has raised expectations in financial markets that the ECB will eventually increase the size of its EUR1.1 trillion quantitative easing program, although many economists expect the ECB to stand pat when it meets next Thursday.
"It looks most likely that the ECB will hold fire on more QE at next Thursday's policy meeting as a number of Governing Council members appear to be in 'wait and see' mood," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer, in a research note.
