UK inflation dips
The UK’s underlying rate of inflation fell by 0.1% to 2.9% last month, the Office for National Statistics has announced.
The headline rate of inflation, which includes mortgage interest payments, also fell by a tenth of a percentage point to 3%.
A drop in oil prices is widely attributed to the fall in the rate, which has remained above the Bank of England’s target level of 2.5% for seven consecutive months.
Housing costs also led to a downward effect as house price growth slowed, and smaller increases in the costs of foreign holidays further contributed to the fall.
Upward pressures came from food, especially seasonal food, as well as household goods, where the prices of furniture and furnishings rose by more than the same period last year.
Royal Bank of Scotland economist Ross Walker said today’s figures demonstrated that inflationary pressure in the UK economy remained ‘benign’.
