UK Inflation Slows To 2.8%

(RTTNews) - UK consumer price inflation slowed more than expected in April reflecting the fall in energy bills and reduced costs for package holidays, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Wednesday.

Consumer price inflation slowed to 2.8 percent in April from 3.3 percent in March. Inflation was seen at 3.0 percent.

Similarly, excluding food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, core inflation softened to 2.5 percent from 3.1 percent in March.

On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices gained at a steady pace of 0.7 percent, which was also weaker than forecast of 0.9 percent increase.

Data showed that electricity and gas prices made the largest downward contribution to annual inflation. Package holidays also exerted downward pressure on the overall rate. The increase in goods prices rose to 2.4 percent from 2.1 percent, while services inflation eased to 3.2 percent from 4.5 percent.

Another data from the ONS showed that both input and output price inflation accelerated in April due to higher crude oil and refined petroleum product prices. Factory gate inflation rose to 4.0 percent from 3.0 percent in the prior month, while it was forecast to slow to 2.8 percent. At the same time, input price inflation advanced more than expected to 7.7 percent from 5.3 percent a month ago. The expected rate was 5.9 percent.