euro zone inflation fell in july and new growth figures showed economic activity picking up in the second quarter of this year bringing some positive news to the region headline inflation in the euro area was 53 in july according to preliminary data released monday lower than the 55 registered in june however it remains well above the european central banks 2 target for the 20member bloc the euro area has been battling high inflation for the past year leading the ecb to undergo a full year of consecutive rate hikes in an effort to bring prices down last week the central bank rose rates by a quarter percentage point once again bringing its main interest rate to 375 the inflation figures come against a backdrop of previously moribund growth with gdp gross domestic product stagnating in the first quarter of this year however a separate data release on monday showed that growth accelerated in the second quarter expanding by 03 higher than the 02 expected both france and spains economies proved relatively resilient in the second quarter with the former posting a gdp rate of 05 and the latter expanding by 04 germany however proved weaker over the same threemonth period failing to post any growth this is a breaking news story and it is being updated