UK inflation at a high

The jump strengthens the view that theBoE will be forced to raise interest rates as soon as next year.

LONDON: UK consumer prices accelerated more than expected for a second month in a row, a surprise that may challenge the Bank of England’s (BoE) argument that the surge will be temporary.

Inflation climbed to 2.5% from a year earlier, the strongest since August 2018, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released yesterday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was 2.2%.