UK inflation jumps unexpectedly to hit six-month high in August

British inflation jumped unexpectedly to a six-month high in August, pushed up by bigger-than-usual seasonal increases in sea and air fares and higher theatre admission prices, official data showed on Wednesday. Consumer price inflation rose at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in August, compared with 2.5 percent in July, the Office for National Statistics said, above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to a fall to 2.4 percent. The ONS also said British house prices rose at the weakest annual rate in nearly five years, dragged down by the biggest drop in London house prices since 2009. Wednesday’s figures are likely to surprise Bank of England officials who last month raised interest rates for the second time since the financial crisis and signalled only a gradual rise in borrowing costs in the coming years. Read more: