The U.K.'s annual inflation rate hit a hotter-than-expected 3.8%in July, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday.

UK inflation climbed for a second month in July, adding pressure on the Bank of England to reconsider its pace of interest-rate cuts.

The consumer price index report is under intense scrutiny after Trump fired the head of the agency that oversees the data and his tariffs take hold.

Economists predicted that inflation would start to increase in the second half of the year, but an increase of 0.5% is a bit steep.

Consumer prices were up 2.7% in July from a year earlier, unchanged from June’s gain

In July, headline consumer price inflation in the UK rose at an annual rate of 3.8 per cent, above market expectations of a 3.7 per cent rise and stronger than June’s 3.6 per cent increase. It was in line with BoE expectations.

After somewhat positive inflation data in July, the chances of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in September are at roughly 83%, according to CME Group 's FedWatch tool calculations on Aug. 18. One month earlier, roughly 59% of traders betting on changes in the federal funds rate thought an interest rate cut would occur in September.

Consumer price inflation in France was stable in July and met analysts' expectations and the preliminary reading, statistics office INSEE said on Thursday.