BRUSSELS -- Inflation in the euro zone on a 12-month basis hit 2.9 percent in November, up from 2.7 percent in October and the highest inflation level since the launch of the euro in January 1999, AFP reported.

In November 1999, 12-month inflation in the 11 EU member states that use the single European currency stood at 1.5 percent, the EU Statistics Agency Eurostat reported.

In all 15 EU member states, 12-month inflation in November was 2.6 percent, up from 2.4 percent the month before and 1.4 percent in November last year.

The European Central Bank has set a medium-term upper limit for inflation in the euro zone of 2.0 percent.

U.S. inflation was 3.4 percent in November.

Gerassimos Thomas, spokesman for EU monetary affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes, confirmed that the November figure was the highest since the launch of the euro in 11 EU member states.

He said higher energy prices were to blame for the upward trend, but added that Brussels' economic forecasts remained on track.

Euro-zone inflation was expected to fall in 2001 as oil prices eased, he said, and core inflation -- currently very low -- was expected to rise as the second-stage effects of this year's oil price rise worked through.

On individual index components, Thomas said food exerted a downward pressure apart from vegetables, fish and meat. Services also trended lower, except for package holidays and hotels.

Electrical goods such as televisions, radios and computers also fell on a 12-month basis, he said.

The highest 12-month inflation figures in November were in Ireland (6.0 percent), Luxembourg (4.5 percent) and Spain (4.1 percent). Lowest rates were in Britain (1.0 percent) and Sweden (1.8 percent), both outside the euro zone, followed by France (2.2 percent).

Germany saw the biggest relative price inflation in November, compared to a year earlier, up from 1.0 percent to 2.6 percent. Britain saw the only relative fall, from 1.3 percent down to 1.0 percent.