Investing.com - The annual rate of consumer price inflation in the U.K. rose at the slowest rate in 12 years in November, according to data released on Tuesday.
The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation slowed to 1.0% last month from 1.3% in November. It was the lowest rate of inflation since September 2002 and was below forecasts of 1.2%.
Consumer prices fell 0.3% on a month-over-month basis after a 0.1% increase in October.
Falls in transport costs, notably motor fuels and in the price of food alcoholic drinks were the main contributors to the decline. Lower prices for some recreational goods in the run up to Christmas also contributed.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs rose 1.2% last month, down from 1.5% in October. Economists had expected an unchanged reading.
The retail price index slowed to 2.0% from 2.3% the previous month.
The data also showed that the house price index rose just 10.4% last month, down from 12.1% in October.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5659 from around 1.5660 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7986 from 0.7979 earlier.
European stock markets were mixed. France’s CAC 40 was down 0.24%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 slid 0.16%, Germany's DAX was up 0.27%, while London’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%.