German Inflation Picks Up In August

WIESBADEN, Germany, Aug 24 (AFP) - Inflation in Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, picked up last month, driven by surging oil prices, preliminary data showed on Tuesday.
The German consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.2 percent in August from the figure for July and was 2.0 percent higher than it had been in August 2003, the federal statistics office, Destatis, calculated.
The 12-month rate of inflation was therefore higher this month than the 1.8 percent recorded in July.
Preliminary pan-German inflation figures are calculated on the basis of consumer price statistics for six so-called indicator states -- Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony.
The final August CPI, based on cost-of-living data for all 16 German states, was scheduled to be published in mid-September.