Eurozone begins year strong but inflation still weak

Frankfurt

THE EUROZONE is set to start the new year the way it ended the old: the economy is strong but inflation is weak.

The region's fastest growth in a decade will be confirmed this week in a burst of data that should also show economic confidence at the highest since the currency bloc's early days, unemployment at a post-crisis low, and manufacturing continuing to boom. Yet inflation, the key metric for the European Central Bank (ECB), will probably be the slowest in six months.