U.K. Inflation Steady At 0.3%

(RTTNews) - U.K. inflation remained stable at 0.3 percent in May, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.

Rises in transport costs, restaurant and hotel bills and the price of telecommunication services were the main upward contributors to inflation.

Month-on-month, consumer prices gained 0.2 percent after rising 0.1 percent in April. Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent rise.

Core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, held steady at 1.2 percent.

Another report from ONS showed that output prices declined 0.7 percent year-on-year, the same rate of decrease as seen in April. This index has now seen negative movements since July 2014. Prices were expected to fall 0.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, output price inflation eased to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent. Economists had forecast the rate to remain at 0.3 percent.

At the same time, input prices dropped 3.9 percent annually, much slower than April's 7 percent decline and the expected fall of 5.1 percent.

Month-on-month, input prices climbed 2.6 percent, which was the fourth consecutive rise in prices.