UK inflation eases, remains close to 40-year high

LONDON -- U.K. inflation eased in November as gasoline and diesel prices rose more slowly than the previous month.

The consumer price index rose 10.7% in the 12 months through November, down from a 41-year high of 11.1% in October, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. November’s inflation rate was less than the 10.9% expected by economists.

The news comes after the U.S. on Tuesday reported a second consecutive drop in its inflation rate. U.S. consumer prices rose 7.1% in November, down from 7.7% in October.

But British officials said it was too soon to say whether inflation had peaked in the U.K., which is being slammed by high electricity and natural gas prices as winter begins to take hold.

“Some may be calling this a peak; it is, I think, too early,” Grant Fitnzer, chief economist for the ONS, told the BBC. “We’ve only seen one fall from a 40-year high, so let’s wait a few months.”

The figures will be watched closely by the Bank of England, which is meeting ahead of an interest rate decision on Thursday. The bank raised its key rate to 3% last month, the eighth consecutive rate increase in the past year.