Reuters reports that producer prices increased broadly in February in the United Kingdom:
“…annual gains were registered in all categories, suggesting many manufacturers are taking advantage of the recent pick-up in growth to pass on at least some of their higher energy bills.
Core producer output price inflation, which strips out food, beverages, tobacco and petroleum products, rose by an annual 3.6 percent, its highest rate since February 2009.”
When including energy and food prices, producer prices soared twice as high as expectations to 0.9%. The annualized increase of 5.0% has not been this high since November, 2008.
The Bank of England is betting that inflationary pressures will subside later in the year given spare capacity in the economy. Skeptics are growing…