Eurostat data revealed the Euro area’s annual inflation rate reached a 13-year high in September as consumer prices rose by 3.4 percent. As elsewhere, surging energy costs were mainly responsible as they jumped by 17.6 percent. In addition, the prices of food, alcohol and tobacco increased by 2 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up by 0.5 percent in September, edging a little higher over the previous month’s 0.4 percent. Similarly, annual core inflation rate, which removes variations in energy, food and tobacco prices, reached a near 13-year high of 1.9 percent in September. Another inflation high According to Statistics Canada, the country"s inflation rate was 4.4 percent in September, the highest level since February 2003. This was due to last year’s low base effects and supply chain disruptions. Transportation costs went up considerably by 9.1 percent as gasoline prices leaped by 32.8 percent in September. This was accompanied by a 0.2 percent monthly change in consumer prices. Yearly core inflation rate climbed to 3.7 percent in September, rising from the 3.5 percent recorded in the previous month. Meanwhile, South Africa’s annual inflation rate marginally increased to 5 percent in September from 4.9 percent in the earlier month, Statistics South Africa said. It remained above the 4.5 percent midpoint goal set by the South African Reserve Bank. Consumer prices ticked up 0.2 percent month-on-month in September, slowing from a 0.4 percent gain in the prior month. Eurozone’s current account In August, the Euro area"s current account surplus declined to €17.6 billion ($20.5 billion) from the same month last year when it stood at €24.9 billion ($29 billion), European Central Bank data showed, The services surplus slightly jumped to €5.4 billion ($6.3 billion) while the goods surplus significantly narrowed from €24.3 billion ($28.3 billion) to €12.9 billion ($15 billion). Italian construction According to data released by Istat, construction output in Italy experienced a rebound in August as it jumped by a monthly rate of 1.4 percent, compared to the previous month’s 0.8 percent decline.