The US won't be far behind.
* * * * * J B K * * * * *
San Francisco
The U.K.'s inflation rate jumped more than economists forecast in March, breaching the government's upper limit for the second time this year after energy costs rose within weeks of the election.
Consumer prices climbed 3.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 3 percent increase in February, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. The median forecast of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was 3.1 percent. On the month, prices increased 0.6 percent.
A weak pound is helping push up the cost of imports as Prime Minister Gordon Brown tries to convince voters ahead of a May 6 election that he is the best choice to help nurture the economic recovery and reduce the budget deficit. The Bank of England has a mandate to target inflation at 2 percent and keep it within 1 percentage point of that goal.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a4qZsqIzJqvs
