Euro-zone inflation slowed for the first time in 1 1/2 years, offering a glimmer of hope to the European Central Bank in its struggle to quell the worst consumer-price shock in a generation.

The reading for November was 10%, Eurostat said Wednesday, less than the 10.4% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The drop, from 10.6% in October, was the biggest since 2020 and was thanks to slower advances in energy and services costs, even as food prices grew more quickly.

ECB officials have highlighted the data as crucial for their judgment over whether to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for a third straight time -- an outcome that may now be less probable. Policy makers are likely to study the report at a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, their final gathering before the Dec. 15 decision.

Money markets are pricing about 57 basis points of rate hikes by year-end. European bonds extended losses after Wednesday’s release, with two-year German yields up six basis points at 2.17%.

While only a single month of data, the flickering prospect of weakening price pressures will bring relief to the ECB after the frustration of half a year of figures repeatedly exceeding economist forecasts. It coincides with US statistics from October that went in the same direction, emboldening some Federal Reserve officials to consider a downshift in the pace of rate hikes.

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