UK inflation falls again, raising hopes prices will plunge

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s inflation rate fell for a third consecutive month in January, boosting optimism that the cost-of-living crisis has peaked and prices will fall sharply later this year. The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that inflation eased to 10.1% in the 12 months through January from 10.5% a month earlier. The consumer prices index peaked at 11.1% in October. The Bank of England forecasts prices will fall rapidly in the second half of this year as energy costs begin to moderate and price increases triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drop out of inflation calculations. But the figures offer no immediate relief to consumers squeezed by inflation that remains at levels last seen in the early 1980s.