By William Horobin

PARIS--French inflation rose less than expected in October as a rebound in energy prices was offset by falls in food and services prices and the continued decline in the price of manufactured goods, statistics agency Insee said Friday.

The preliminary reading of inflation in the eurozone's second largest economy showed the Consumer Price Index was unchanged on the month while economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a 0.2% rise. On year, France's CPI rose 0.4% while economists expected 0.5%.

The preliminary figures indicate the European Central Bank's quantitative easing program and record low rates did not push inflation any further toward the bank's 2% target in October. The measure of inflation closely watched by the ECB--the harmonized measure of annual price change known as HICP--rose 0.5% in October, the same as September, Insee said.

Write to William Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 28, 2016 03:15 ET (07:15 GMT)