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U.K. inflation held steady at the Bank of England’s 2% target in June, Official National Statistics data showed Wednesday.
The headline reading came in above analyst expectations at 1.9%, according to economists polled by Reuters, and was in line with the previous 2% reading in May.
Sterling rose slightly shortly after the release, trading at $1.2977 by 7:21 a.m. London time.
Services inflation — which is closely watched by the Bank of England given its dominance within the U.K. economy and its reflection of domestically-generated price rises — remained at 5.7% in June.
Core inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, was 3.5%, also on par with the 3.5% recorded in May.
Higher restaurant and hotel prices were the largest contributors to upward pressure, while clothing and footwear costs posted the biggest declines, the ONS said.
The reading is the first since the U.K.’s general election on July 4, but does not reflect the change in government. The U.K.’s new chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said in a statement that prices remain too high.
“We face the legacy of fourteen years of chaos and economic irresponsibility. That is why this Government is taking the tough decisions now to fix the foundations so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of Britain better off,” he said Wednesday.