UK inflation holds at 2% but underlying price pressures stay strong

A drone view of London

LONDON (Reuters) -British inflation held at 2.0% last month, defying forecasts for a slight fall, and underlying price pressures persisted, maintaining uncertainty about the date of the Bank of England's first interest rate cut since 2020. 

Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected headline consumer price inflation would ease to 1.9% in the 12 months to June, extending its drop from a peak of 11.1% in October 2022. 

Inflation for services was much stronger at 5.7%, the Office for National Statistics said, unchanged from May. The Reuters poll had pointed to a slightly weaker 5.6% increase.

Sterling rose against the dollar immediately after the data was published.

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