UK inflation falls from 41-year high as fuel price surge eases

LONDON — U.K. inflation came in slightly below expectations at 10.7% in November, as cooling fuel prices helped ease price pressures, though high food and energy prices continued to squeeze households and businesses.

Economists polled by Reuters had projected an annual increase in the consumer price index of 10.9% in November, after October saw an unexpected climb to a 41-year high of 11.1%. On a monthly basis, the November increase was 0.4%, down from 2% in October and below a consensus estimate of 0.6%.

The Office for National Statistics said the largest upward contributions came from “housing and household services (principally from electricity, gas, and other fuels), and food and…