Bank of England looks behind the curve again

On both the ascent and descent, the Bank of England has trailed far behind inflation.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics today show that the rate of price growth slowed to 3.9 per cent in November, down from 4.6 per cent in the previous month to the lowest level since October 2021.

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) thought last month’s rate would be 4.6 per cent. The central bank’s economists have been wide of the mark on their inflation forecasts for two years now, both underestimating the strength of price pressures on the way up and, seemingly now, overestimating the resilience of inflation on the way down.

Services inflation, which the central bank monitors very closely to inform its rate