U.K. inflation rose to 2.6% in November, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday, in line with the forecast of economists polled by Reuters. Core inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, came in at 3.5%, just under a Reuters forecast of 3.6%.
'This upwards trajectory looks set to continue over the next few months,' Joe Nellis, economic adviser at accountancy MHA, said in emailed comments on Wednesday, citing the energy market and 'the long-term pressure of a tight domestic labor market.' The reading was in line with the forecast of economists polled by Reuters, and climbed from 2.3% in October. Headline price rises hit a three-and-a-half year low of 1.7% in September, but was expected to tick higher in the following months, partly due to an increase in the regulator-set energy price cap this winter. Persistent inflation in the services sector, the dominant part of the U.K. economy, has led money markets to price in almost no chance of an interest rate cut during the Bank of England's final meeting of the year on Thursday. Those bets were solidified earlier this week when the ONS reported thatResearch group Capital Economics said the print 'firmly rules out' a BOE December rate cu