The UK came out of deflation in May

REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Uwe Kiehl of team Germany I breathes on the surface during a match at the Underwater ice hockey Championships in lake Weissensee in Austria February 17, 2013.

The UK's brief bout of deflation ended in May, according to official statistics just released.

Consumer prices rose by +0.1% in the year to May.

Analysts had expected inflation to bounce back to +0.1% in May, after the UK recorded a -0.1% drop in April - the first decline for half a century.

Economists were also expecting core inflation, which fell to its lowest levels in more than a decade in April, to firm from +0.8% to +1%.

In reality, core inflation came in a little weaker than expected, up +0.9% in the year to May.