UK inflation unexpectedly rises to 4% in December

According to the Office for National Statistics, the uptick was in large part due to an increase in tobacco and alcohol prices, rising 12.9% in the year to December, while food and non-alcoholic beverage prices decreased. Core inflation, which excludes food, alcohol, tobacco and energy, rose 5.1% in December, unchanged from the previous month.  Economists had expected headline inflation to decelerate to 3.8% in December, and the core CPI reading to slow to 4.9%.  The UK has joined the US and the eurozone with a disappointing uptick in headline inflation, following two months of sha...