Euro zone inflation drops in Jan, but core rate rises

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Inflation slowed in the euro zone January, in line with market expectations, according to a first estimate from the EU's statistics agency, although core inflation picked up.

Inflation in the 19-country single currency area declined to 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent in December, in line with market expectations. Eurostat's flash estimate for the month does not include a month-on-month calculation.

The decline came because of a slower increase of unprocessed food and energy prices.

The former went up 1.0 percent in January, compared with a 1.9 percent rise in December. The latter was up 2.1 percent from 2.9 percent in December

Calculated without these two most volatile components, or what the ECB calls core inflation rose to 1.2 percent from 1.1 percent in December, against expectations of a slight dip to 1.0 percent.

For details of Eurostat data click on:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/news-releases

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)