UK Inflation At 5-Month High

(RTTNews) - UK consumer price inflation rose to a five-month high in August largely due to higher motor fuel prices, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.

Inflation advanced to 3.1 percent from 2.9 percent in July. The rate came in line with expectations.

Meanwhile, core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco remained unchanged at 2.6 percent in August.

The CPI goods annual rate rose to 2.7 percent from 2.2 percent, while services inflation held steady at 3.4 percent. Transport, particularly motor fuels, made the largest upward contribution to the annual inflation.

Another report from the statistical office showed increases in input and output price inflation. Input price inflation rose to 6.1 percent from 5.8 percent in the previous month. At the same time, annual growth in output prices climbed to 3.7 percent from 3.3 percent.

On a monthly basis, input prices rebounded 0.3 percent after a 0.8 percent fall and output prices moved up 0.7 percent, following July's 0.4 percent increase.