UK annual inflation dropped faster than expected in October to a near three-year low at 1.5% as lower energy prices offset rising prices for clothes, official data showed today.
The Consumer Prices Index 12-month rate, the lowest since November 2016, compared with 1.7% in September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement published ahead of next month's UK general election.
Analysts' consensus forecast had been for a drop to 1.6%.
Analysts said the drop mainly reflected a slump in energy inflation and so was not a reflection of a weakening in underlying inflationary pressures.
"Overall, the figures do little to change our view that inflation will spend more time below the Bank of England's target of 2% than above it in 2020 and that if Brexit is delayed further, interest rates will be cut, in May," she added.
The pound meanwhile showed little reaction to the latest inflation data.
Official data yesterday showed that UK unemployment hit 3.8%, a fresh 45-year low.
On Monday, the ONS said that Britain's economy avoided recession in the third quarter, with growth of 0.3%.
