LONDON (AFX) - The UK retail price index rose 0.5 pct in February for a 2.7 pct year-on-year increase, National Statistics said. The AFX News median of analysts' forecasts was for February RPI to have risen 0.4 pct on the month for a 2.6 pct year-on-year rise.
NS said the largest upward effect on the all-items 12-month rate came from changes in motoring costs where both petrol prices and vehicle insurance premiums have risen slightly compared to falls last year.
Motoring expenditure, which added 0.05 points to the headline rate, were up 0.3 pct on the month for a 1.3 pct year-on-year increase.
The largest downward effect came from changes in housing costs, where mortgage interest rates have fallen slightly this year in contrast to rises last year following a base rate increase in January 2000, NS said.
A partially offsetting effect within housing costs came from the house depreciation component, which increased by more than last year, it added.
Underlying inflation RPI-X (RPI excluding mortgage interest payments) -- the measure of inflation targeted by the Bank of England -- was up 0.5 in February for a year-on-year increase of 1.9 pct.
This compares with expectations for a 0.4 pct month-on-month rise and a 1.8 pct annual rise.
February RPI-Y, RPI excluding mortgage interest payments, indirect taxes and excise duties, was up 0.6 pct on the month, for a year-on-year increase of 1.6 pct.
RPI-Y was forecast to have gained 0.5 pct on the month for a 1.5 pct year-on-year increase.
The EU harmonised consumer price index (HICP) rose to 105.7 in February from 105.4 in the previous month, leaving the annual rate of increase at 0.8 pct, down from 0.9 in January.
A further breakdown of the data revealed that goods prices increased by 0.7 pct over the month, for a 0.4 pct year-on-year rise. This compares with an annual rate of 0.3 pct in January.
In contrast, the price of services, which were up 0.2 pct on the month, rose 3.0 pct on a year-on-year basis, against an annual rate of 2.9 pct in January.