Consumer prices steady in Britain

The Office for National Statistics in Britain said the annual inflation rate was unchanged from August to September, holding at an annual rate of 2.7 percent. ONS said rising air fare prices were offset by lower oil and gas prices. In general, the data shows a "trend of broadly steady inflation since Spring 2012," the data office said. The index dropped under 3 percent in April 2012 and has not wavered much since then. The slowest inflation rate of the past 18 months was in September 2012, when inflation stood at 2.2 percent. The index for core prices, which excludes the volatile categories of food and energy, rose 2.2 percent in September The annual rate of inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages was 4.8 percent in September with gains of 4.3 percent for breads and cereal, 5.2 percent for meats and 11.3 percent for fruit.