UK inflation cooled to 3.6% in October, offering a modest boost to the government ahead of next week’s budget but leaving the Bank of England wary as it weighs the timing of future

interest rate cuts.

Fresh data from the Office for National Statistics shows the annual rate of consumer price growth edged down from 3.8% in September, broadly in line with economists’ expectations. The slowdown was driven largely by a softening in housing and household services costs, with gas and electricity bills rising less sharply than they did a year ago following revisions to Ofgem’s energy price cap.

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said the easing reflected “mainly gas and electricity prices, which increased less than this time last year”.

Despite the headline improvement, food prices remained a notable pressure point, with several staple goods continuing to climb sharply. The persistence of those increases is likely to reinforce caution at the Bank, which has signalled it wants firmer evidence that inflation is on a sustainable path back to its 2% target before cutting rates. Photo by Tiia Monto, Wikimedia commons.