UK Inflation Rises to 9-Year High in August

Britain’s inflation rate hit its highest level in more than nine years last month after the biggest monthly jump to the annual rate in at least 24 years, in large part due to an extraordinary increase due to a program to cut food prices last year.

Consumer prices rose 3.2% on an annual basis in August after a 2% annual increase in July, the highest rate since March 2012, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The 1.2 percentage point rise in the annual rate of inflation in August represented the biggest increase since detailed records began in 1997. 37 economists polled by Reuters did not expect such a rise, with the median forecast pointing to inflation at 2.9%.