LONDON -- Consumer prices in the 19 countries that use the euro currency hit a record high of 5% in December compared with a year earlier.

       The rise was led by a surge in energy prices, according numbers released Friday by the European Union's statistical office.

       Inflation is now at the highest level in the eurozone since recordkeeping began in 1997 and broke a record set in November.

       Soaring prices are compounding problems for European Central Bank policymakers who have been keeping interest rates at ultra-low levels to stimulate the economy amid the global pandemic.