Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:04am EDT
* August annual inflation at 0.4 pct, unchanged from July
* Eurostat had predicted the rate would fall to 0.3 pct (Updates with economist reaction, ECB details)
BRUSSELS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - An increase in rents and car-repair prices lifted euro zone inflation in August slightly higher than a first estimate, a small piece of good news for the European Central Bank but not one that radically changes the economic outlook.
Consumer inflation in the 18 countries sharing the euro rose 0.1 percent month-on-month in August for a 0.4 percent year-on-year increase, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday, revising upwards its initial estimate, from Aug. 29, of a 0.3 percent annual gain.
That leaves the inflation rate unchanged from July.
"Every positive surprise is welcome in terms of market psychology and for the European Central Bank," said Frederik Ducrozet, an economist at Credit Agricole.
"But it is far from the kind of shift you need to rule out QE," he said, referring to quantitative easing, the programme of bond purchases the United States and Britain have used to lift their economies.
Eurostat said that rising rents, higher prices in cafes and restaurants and more expensive car repairs did the most to raise year-on-year inflation. Cheaper fuel, fruit and phone calls pulled it down the most.
In its initial estimate, Eurostat had said that prices of services grew 1.2 percent year-on-year in August. In the revised data, it changed that value to 1.3 percent.
Inflation has fallen steadily since the end of 2011, reflecting a weak euro zone economy and near-record unemployment, after a debt crisis nearly ripped the bloc apart. Economic growth came to a standstill in the second quarter and Italy has slipped back into its third recession since 2008.
The ECB targets an inflation rate at below, but close to, 2 percent over the medium term, a level not seen since the first quarter of 2013. It also considers anything below 1 percent over time to be in a "danger zone".
With August's number, inflation has now been in that zone for 11 straight months. BNP Paribas expects the annual inflation rate to slip to 0.2 percent in September because of lower oil prices, then rebound around the end of the year.
To push up inflation, the ECB has cut interest rates to almost zero and will start buying asset-backed securities next month, flooding the banking system with cheap cash that it hopes banks will lend on to companies and individuals.
Investors are watching to see if the ECB will go further and start a U.S.-style bond-buying programme - purchasing sovereign debt on a monthly basis to stimulate the economy.
The ECB is most closely watching core inflation, stripping out volatile energy and food prices. Core inflation was 0.9 percent year-on-year last month, up from 0.8 percent in July and a low of 0.7 percent in May, Eurostat data showed. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Robin Emmott; Editing by Larry King)
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