Catherine Reynolds 

Investing.com — The annual rate in the U.K. rose to 5.1% in November. This puts pressure on the Bank of England, which is under increasing interest rates.

On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics reported that consumer prices increased at an unprecedented rate from September 2008 to 4.2% in October. Analysts expected an inflation rate of 4.7%. This was 0.7% more than the 0.1% fall in inflation for the same period last year.

According to the ONS, inflation rose due to transportation, housing and household services.

Inflation data will be the final reading of consumer prices for BoE policymakers before Thursday’s last policy meeting. Higher interest rates are justified due to the strength of the labour market and the high inflation. Policymakers may keep rates steady despite renewed economic concerns over the possible slowdown resulting from rapid spreading of Omicron Covid -19.

The latest data showed Tuesday that employment growth was strong, while vacancies held steady at record levels for November.

Expectations were that the BoE would raise rates in November. This would have marked the first rate increase since the pandemic. However, rates remained unchanged despite somehawkish advice from senior policymakers over the weeks. 

Markets pushed back on bets that the rate would rise to February, as last week’s data indicated.