UK consumer price inflation accelerated at a faster pace than expected last month, spurred on by electricity and gas prices, numbers on Wednesday showed.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the rate of annual consumer price inflation picked up to 2.3% in October, back above the Bank of England’s target, from 1.7% in September.
The latest reading topped the FXStreet cited consensus of 2.2%.
The ONS said the largest contributor to the inflation rate stemmed from ‘housing and household services, mainly because of electricity and gas prices’.
Consumer prices rose 0.6% in October from September, beating expectations of a 0.5% rise. In September, prices were flat from August.
Excluding food and energy, the annual core inflation rate accelerated slightly to 3.3% last month from 3.2% in September.
The services inflation rate, one closely-watched by BoE policymakers, edged up to 5.0% in October from 4.9% in September.
UK producer prices fell 2.3% in October, the decline picking up speed from 1.9% in September, the ONS said. A fall of 2.5% was expected, however, according to FXStreet.
On-month, producer prices rose 0.1% in October, after a decline of 0.5% in September from August. The October monthly reading fell short of expectations, however, as growth of 0.6% was forecast.
Nonetheless, Wednesday’s inflation data pushed sterling back above the $1.27 mark at $1.2708. It had traded around $1.2685 before the data.
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