UK inflation jumps higher than expected to 3.5% amid bills increase

The ONS says gas and electricity bills rose in April ‘compared with sharp falls at the same time last year’. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock

Inflation in the UK jumped by more than expected last month to 3.5% – its highest rate in more than a year – after dramatic increases in water bills, energy costs and council tax.

A rise in employer national insurance contributions and an increase to the national minimum wage also put pressure on companies to raise prices by more than City analysts had forecast.