U.K. inflation in January maintained at 4% year-on-year, contributed by an easing in prices for furniture and household goods, food and non-alcoholic beverages. On a month-on-month, headline inflation fell to -0.6% after a surprise increase in December last year to 0.4%.
Economists polled by Reuters expected a 4.2% YoY rise and -0.3% MoM decline.
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices, was at 5.1% in January, which was below a consensus estimate of 5.2% polled by Reuters. On a monthly basis, core inflation dipped to -0.9%, also below a -0.8% forecast.
