British inflation speeds down to 2.5%

In March, consumer prices in the United Kingdom tacked on just 0.1% in contrast with the previous month, while in annual terms it soared by 2.5%, as follows from state statistics.

Analysts on average expected the first indicator to edge up by approximately 0.3%, while the second indicator was believed to soar by 2.7%, according to Trading Economics.

The increase in the indicator in annual terms turned to be minimal for the last year.

In February, inflation accounted for 0.4% in monthly as well as 2.7% in annual terms. Thus, consumer price growth remains above the target level of the Bank of England, which accounts for 2% for fourteen consecutive months.

The CPI Core index, which does not include food, alcohol, tobacco, not to mention energy prices, turned to be 2.3% the previous month, tacking on from 2.4% in February. Experts expected the surge rate to speed up to about 2.5%.

In March, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages went up by up to 0.4% in monthly terms. Clothing and footwear rallied by about 0.7%. Meanwhile, the cost of alcohol and tobacco products went down by approximately 0.5%, while transport services sank by 0.3%.

Retail prices (index RPI) edged up by 3.3% the previous month compared to March 2017 and by 0.1% compared to February 2018. By the way, the RPI index is used by British employers in negotiating wages. The difference in the dynamics of the CPI and RPI indices is due to the inclusion of housing costs in the RPI, as well as different weights of air fares, insurance and gasoline prices.

Additionally, on Tuesday, ONS reported that the growth in housing prices in Great Britain in February speeded down to 4.4% in annual terms from an updated 4.7% for the first month of 2018.