Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Energy costs push UK inflation to 2.3 percent

By Jonathan Powell | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2024-11-21 20:02
Share
Share - WeChat

Inflation in the United Kingdom increased to 2.3 percent in October, putting pressure on the Bank of England to wait until next year before making additional interest rate cuts.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics, or ONS, on Wednesday showed that surging household energy costs pushed the consumer price index higher, breaking the pattern of declining inflation rates seen throughout the year.

This marked a significant shift from September's more modest inflation rate of 1.7 percent, which was the first time the inflation rate had fallen below the central bank's 2 percent target since 2021.

According to the ONS, while higher gas and electricity costs pushed prices up, this was partially offset by falling oil prices, which reduced transportation and manufacturing costs.

Contributing factors included persistent inflation in the services sector, which represents about 80 percent of the UK economy and that saw prices climb by 0.6 percent month-on-month.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco, edged up to 3.3 percent for the year ending October 2024, said the ONS.

The October figure exceeded economists' expectations, with a typical household seeing their annual gas and electricity bills increase by approximately 149 pounds ($188), reported The Guardian newspaper.

The central bank's most recent forecast and a Reuters poll of economists had both predicted a CPI reading of 2.2 percent in October.

However, the rate of price increases remains significantly lower than it has been in recent years.

Quoted by various news outlets, Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said: "These figures confirm a disappointing resurgence in inflation as the recent tailwind from lower energy costs turned into a headwind in October, following the increase in (regulator) Ofgem's price cap, which drove a notable jump in household bills."

The sharp rise in inflation to a six-month high has diminished the likelihood of further interest rate reductions this year, according to analysts.

Economists at Capital Economics emphasized that temporary factors were behind the recent price increases.

"Much of this overshoot in core inflation and services inflation, was due to a sharp rise in airfares inflation, which the bank won't consider a sign of stickier price pressures," said its analysis.

Its forecast suggests that, unless November's inflation figures that are due on Dec 18, bring unexpected developments, the central bank is likely to maintain its current interest rate of 4.75 percent at December's policy meeting.

Business leaders have warned that the tax measures unveiled in the Labour Party government's recent budget could drive up consumer prices further, with early signs showing the increases have already dampened consumer confidence, reported The Guardian.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 好吊色永久免费视频大全| 欧美xxxxx性喷潮| 老师你的兔子好软水好多的车视频| 18禁止午夜福利体验区| 亚洲日本va在线观看| 99国产精品久久久久久久成人热| www.午夜视频| 一本久到久久亚洲综合| 91酒店疯狂输出女神范范| 99精品热视频| av在线亚洲男人的天堂| 18一20岁一级毛片| 青春草在线视频观看| 青青青国产免费线在| 青青青国产在线观看免费网站| 精品国产一区二区三区无码| 精品国产人成亚洲区| 欧美第一页在线| 日本人成18在线播放| 日本五月天婷久久网站| 末成年ASS浓精PICS| 美日韩在线观看| 钻胯羞辱的视频vk| 福利视频免费看| 狼群资源网在线视频免费观看| 欧美成人777| 日本a∨在线观看| 性做久久久久久免费观看| 岛国片免费在线观看| 女人扒开裤子让男人桶| 天天爽天天爽夜夜爽毛片| 在线精品免费视频| 国产精品污WWW在线观看| 国产一区二区影院| 四虎永久免费地址ww1515| 免费看的黄色大片| 亚洲精品无码专区在线在线播放 | 91精品国产亚洲爽啪在线观看| 18禁裸男晨勃露j毛免费观看| 美女让男人捅爽| 最近免费中文字幕mv在线电影|