UK inflation accelerated to a 15-month high in March as an early Easter boosted air fares and clothing prices increased.Consumer prices rose 0.5 per cent from a year earlier, the fastest pace since December 2014, the Office for National Statistics in London said on Tuesday. That exceeded the 0.4 per cent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, quickened to 1.5 per cent, the most since October 2014.While inflation remains well below the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target, the figures suggest it is picking up after almost a year of hovering around zero. Policy makers are expected to keep the benchmark interest rate at a record low until the first quarter of 2017, the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey shows. Their latest decision will be announced on Thursday.

Upward pressure on inflation last month came from transport costs as air fares rose 23 per cent on the month compared with2.7 per cent in March 2015. This reflected the timing of the four-day Easter break, which occurred last month but in April2015.There was also pressure from clothing and footwear, which rose 1 percent in March after falling in the same month last year.This was partly offset by a drop in food prices, while motor-fuel costs rose by less than they did a year earlier.

Consumer prices rose 0.4 per cent in March from February. In the first quarter, they climbed 0.35 per cent from a year earlier. Services-cost inflation increased to 2.8 per cent on an annual basis, while goods prices fell 1.6 per cent on the year.Another measure of inflation, the retail prices index, accelerated to 1.6 per cent from 1.3 per cent. The index is used among other things to calculate interest-payments on inflation-protected gilts.

A separate report showed the cost of goods leaving factory gates rose 0.3 percent in March from February and fell 0.9 per cent on the year. Input costs increased 2 per cent, leaving them 6.5 per cent lower than a year earlier. House-price growth slowed to an annual 7.6 per cent in February from 7.9 per cent in January.

Bloomberg