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UK consumer prices unexpectedly heated up in December, according to data from the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
The ONS said the consumer price index rose by 4.0% annually in December, the pace of inflation notching up from a 3.9% increase in November. The reading came in hotter than market expectations, with consensus having been for price inflation to cool to 3.8%, according to FXstreet.
Inflation’s recent peak was 11.1% annually in October 2022, which the ONS estimates to be the highest since 1981.
Core consumer prices, which exclude energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose 5.1% in December annually, having risen by the same amount a month earlier. The reading came in hotter-than-expected, with market consensus expecting core prices to cool to 4.9%.
Separately, the ONS reported data for producer input prices.
On a monthly basis, producer input prices fell by 1.2% in December, following a 0.4% fall a month earlier.
Annually, producer input prices declined by 2.8% in December, a slightly quicker rate than November’s 2.7% fall.
The ONS also on Wednesday reported the retail price index.
It rose by 5.2% annually, slowing slightly from a 5.3% fall in November.
Month-on-month, the retail price index rose by 0.5%, having fallen by 0.1% in November from October.
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