(Alliance News) - The rate of UK consumer price inflation was hotter than expected last month, but still eased to the tamest in almost three years, official figures on Wednesday showed.
The consumer price index rose by 2.3% in April from a year before, slowing from a 3.2% annual increase in March, according to the Office for National Statistics. Though inflation was hotter than market consensus of 2.1%, which would have been only a hair above the Bank of England's 2% target, the latest figure is the coolest rate of inflation since July 2021.
Since then, inflation pressure has been robust, with the annual rate hitting a recent peak of 11.1% in October 2022.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in April, after they climbed 0.6% in March from February. The monthly reading topped the consensus of 0.2%, according to FXStreet.
The annual rate of core consumer price growth, so excluding items such as food and energy, cooled to 3.9% in April from 4.2% in March. The figure landed ahead of the consensus of 3.9%.
Numbers from the ONS showed annual services inflation, a gauge on which the BoE has been keeping a close eye, remained stubbornly high at 5.9% in April, easing slightly from 6.0% in March.
Separate numbers showed producer prices fell year-on-year in April. Producer prices declined 1.6% on-year last month, following a 2.5% fall in March. The April figure was more deflationary than expected, with only a decline of 1.2% in the producer price index forecast by market consensus, according to FXStreet.
Producer prices rose 0.6% in April from March, topping expectations of a 0.4% rise. In March, prices fell 0.2% from February.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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