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divdiv class=story-body readability=30 span class=story-date#13; span class=date12 November 2013/span#13; span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time05:48 ET/span#13; #13; /span#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The UK's inflation rate, as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), a href=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cpi/consumer-price-indices/october-2013/stb---consumer-price-indices---october-2013.htmlfell to 2.2% in October/a from 2.7% the month before./p#13; pThe surprise fall saw CPI inflation drop to its lowest rate for more than a year, and eases pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates./p#13; pThe figure was below forecasts of 2.5% and is the lowest since September 2012. /p#13; pThe Office for National Statistics said the fall was driven by the biggest drop in transport prices since July 2009./p#13; pIt said transport prices fell by 1.5% between September and October./p#13; pOne major transport cost factor came from fuel price cuts at many major supermarket chains engaged in a price war./p#13; pThere were also downwards price movements on some air fares./p#13; span class=cross-headInflation target/span#13; pAnother inflation fall came in education costs, with the impact of rising tuition fees being smaller than at the same time a year previously./p#13; pAnd food inflation fell too, from 4.8% to 4.3%./p#13; pFalling petrol and diesel prices seem to have done the most to drag the inflation rate down, and the ongoing softness in Brent crude prices means there may be a little more of this to come in the months ahead, said economist Rob Carnell at ING./p#13; pThere was also some price softness in furniture and household items too./p#13; pA separate measure of inflation, the retail prices index (RPI), fell from 3.2% in September to 2.6% in October./p#13; pThe drop in the inflation rate means the Bank of England is considerably closer to its inflation target of 2%, which it has exceeded since December 2009./p#13; pHowever, recently announced price rises by most of the UK's large energy firms have yet to take effect and will have an inflationary impact in the coming months./p#13; pThe Bank will publish its latest inflation forecast on Wednesday./p#13; pThe Bank of England's forward guidance states that a hike in interest will not be considered until unemployment drops below 7%, said economist Chris Williamson at Markit./p#13; pHe said the Bank's forecast was likely to bring forward when the Bank expects this to happen from late 2016 to perhaps late 2015, given the recent flow of stronger than expected economic data./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center