On Wednesday, UK inflation rose to 3.6% in June, up from 3.4% in May, posing a challenge for the Bank of England as it weighs its next move on interest rates. The uptick comes despite recent efforts to curb inflation and support a weakening economy, which contracted by 0.1% on Friday. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) exceeded analysts’ expectations, who had forecast inflation to remain steady at 3.4%. UK inflation now stands significantly higher than in many other European economies. Inflation had reached 3.5% in April before a brief slowdown in May, making June’s increase particularly unexpected. Since last summer, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has cut interest rates four times in pursuit of its 2% inflation target. For the April–June quarter, the economy is now projected to grow by just 0.1% to 0.2%. Responding to the latest GDP data, Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated: “While today’s figures are disappointing, I am determined to kickstart economic growth.” Read more from the BBC article here .