UK inflation jumps to 3.1% as energy costs soar

JUST IN: UK inflation jumps to 3.1% in August as energy costs soar, the first reading above 3% since March, driven by a 23% year-on-year surge in motor fuel prices.

UK inflation just punched back above 3 percent, first time since March.

The official number for August is 3.1, and the villain is sitting on every forecourt. Motor fuel is up 23 percent on the year. Petrol jumped 9.1 pence a litre in a single month, the highest average price since November 2022, and diesel climbed even faster, 14.2 pence. The Office for National Statistics says that's what did most of the damage.

Zoom out and it's the same story you already know. Crude is above a hundred dollars a barrel since the Iran war kicked off, and Britain imports its energy, so it takes the hit with no cushion. Household electricity and gas rose 6 percent on the year too.

So the cost-of-living squeeze that was supposed to be fading is back at the pumps, and the Bank of England now has an inflation problem wearing a petrol cap.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.