Eurozone prices falling further

Prices in the eurozone fell in September at a faster rate than they had in August.

The inflation rate fell to -0.3% in the year to September, from -0.2% in the year to August, according to Eurostat.

It is the fourth consecutive month that the rate of inflation has been negative in the bloc of 16 European nations that use the euro as their currency.

Oil prices have fallen over the past month as concerns have grown about the state of the US economy.

'Temporary relapse'

Deflation is considered damaging to an economy because consumers tend to delay making major purchases until prices fall further. Without consumer spending to stimulate growth, economic output falls.

The European Central Bank's target rate for inflation is just below 2%.

Prices had fallen 0.7% in July and 0.1% in June in the first spell of deflation since euro notes and coins were introduced in 2002.

"This is probably a temporary relapse, mainly related to food and energy price base effects," said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING.