UK inflation eases for a 2nd month, falling to 10.5%

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — U.K. inflation eased for a second month in December, boosting confidence that the cost-of-living crisis has peaked. The Office for National Statistics says consumer prices rose 10.5% in the year through December, down from 10.7% the previous month. Inflation peaked at a 41-year high of 11.1% in October. While the drop is welcome, inflation is still running at levels last seen in the early 1980s. U.K. prices are also rising faster than in other major industrialized nations. Inflation slowed to 6.5% last month in the U.S. and 9.2% in the 20 countries that use the euro.