Euro zone inflation hits three-year high of 3.8%

Last month, prices across the euro zone rose at their fastest pace in three years.

As Eurostat figures published on Friday show, inflation hit 3.8% in September, up from 3.2% in August.

As the Irish Times reports, that beat the 3.6% forecast of economists, driven largely by a Middle East-fuelled jump in oil and gas prices.

The rise lands as Irish households are already stretched.

According to a recent poll, almost seven in ten young adults are considering leaving Ireland for a better quality of life.

Why euro zone inflation is climbing

In the European bloc, all four largest economies posted faster price rises than forecast.

For instance, Spain's annual rate hit 5%, the sharpest increase among them.

Food, fuel and natural gas costs drove most of the rise.

Meanwhile, French 10-year bond yields climbed as high as 4.96% on Thursday, their highest level since 2002, before easing back to 4.92%.

Irish mortgage holders brace for another ECB rate rise

September marked the seventh month running that euro zone inflation held above the ECB's 2% target.

As the RTÉ reported, the ECB became the first G7 central bank to respond to the Middle East energy shock.

It has raised borrowing costs twice already, first in June and again in September.

And now, before the year is out, investors expect a further quarter-point rise, to 2.75%.

The ECB sets rates across the whole currency bloc, Ireland included, so another increase would raise costs for Irish tracker and variable-rate mortgage holders too.