UK inflation jumps above 5% as BoE considers rate rise

• British inflation surged to its highest in more than 10 years in November, jumping to 5.1% and potentially unsettling the Bank of England a day before it announces whether it is raising interest rates for the first time since COVID-19 struck. 
• Price pressure from a broad range of consumer goods and services, especially petrol, clothing, and footwear, lay behind the increase in inflation to its highest since September 2011, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. 
• The reading exceeded all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, which had pointed to a rise of 4.7% from October's 4.2%. 
• Many economists still expect the BoE to stay on hold again on Thursday, because of the potential impact on the economic growth of rapidly rising cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant, despite the inflation surprise.

(Source: Reuters)