LONDON (Reuters) – The number of Britons claiming unemployment benefit rose in January for the first time in four months against a background of slowing pay growth, official data showed on Wednesday.

Sterling fell and gilt futures rose on the figures which suggested Britain’s labour market was deteriorating even before the bulk of the government’s austerity measures take effect, while subdued wage growth suggested domestic inflation impulses are well under control.

LONDON (Reuters) – The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose in January for the first time in four months against a background of slowing pay growth, official data showed on Wednesday.

The pound fell and gilt futures rose on the figures which suggested the labour market was deteriorating even before the bulk of the government’s austerity measures take effect, while subdued wage growth suggested domestic inflation impulses are well under control.

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Inflation in Britain jumped to
twice the Bank of England’s target in January, prompting BoE
Governor Mervyn King to acknowledge that interest rates might
rise more rapidly than economists had expected.

Consumer price inflation surged to a two-year high of 4.0
percent from 3.7 percent in December, providing an awkward
backdrop for the central bank’s updated quarterly growth and
inflation forecasts on Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Inflation rose to double the Bank of England’s target in January, prompting BoE Governor Mervyn King to acknowledge on Tuesday that interest rates might rise more rapidly than previously expected.

Consumer price inflation surged to a two-year high of 4.0 percent from 3.7 percent in December, and set the stage for the BoE’s revised growth and inflation forecasts on Wednesday that will give investors a major steer on how close it is to raising its benchmark rate, currently at a record low 0.5 percent.

LONDON (Reuters) – Inflation in Britain rose to double the Bank of England’s target in January, increasing pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates despite a fragile economic recovery.

Consumer price inflation surged to an annual 4.0 percent — its highest in more than two years — from 3.7 percent in December, official data showed on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s January inflation numbers will make difficult reading for the Bank of England at a time when its inflation-fighting credentials are increasingly coming into question.

Figures at 9:30 a.m. are forecast to show annual consumer price inflation surged to 4.0 percent from 3.7 percent in December, its highest level since November 2008 and double the central bank’s target.

LONDON (Reuters) – Factory gate inflation rose twice as fast as expected last month, and the cost of raw materials soared, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.

Evidence that pipeline inflation pressures are continuing to build will worry BoE policymakers at a time when consumer price inflation is nearly double its 2 percent target and still rising.

LONDON (Reuters) – Factory gate inflation rose twice as fast as expected last month, and the cost of raw materials soared, heaping pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.

Evidence that pipeline inflation pressures are continuing to build will worry Bank policymakers at a time when consumer price inflation is nearly double its 2 percent target and still rising.

LONDON (Reuters) – Companies fared better in the final three months of last year as courts in England and Wales issued 2,510 company wind-up petitions in the last three months of 2010, down 6 percent on the year and a drop of 10 percent on the previous quarter.

Fewer people in Britain also had their homes repossessed, with low interest rates keeping many struggling Britons afloat, data showed on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England defied critics and kept interest rates at a record low on Thursday, judging the threat from rising inflation will prove temporary and that Britain’s recovery remains in doubt.

Inflation has jumped to almost twice the BoE’s target and is still rising, but the economy faces headwinds from hefty public spending cuts and suffered a surprise contracted at the end of last year.