UK services inflation is proving sticky, BoE's Lombardelli says

LONDON (Reuters) -Bank of England Deputy Governor Clare Lombardelli said on Thursday that British services price inflation - a key measure of domestic price pressures - remained "sticky" despite data showing a slight fall in May.

Lombardelli, who was speaking after the central bank kept interest rates at 4.25% in a 6-3 vote split earlier on Thursday, also said the slowdown in Britain's labour market was as expected.

"We've seen a rise in a number of elements of inflation. Services inflation is proving to be quite sticky, but we've also seen recent rises in energy prices, other regulated prices," Lombardelli told reporters.

"We are seeing some broad weakening in the labour market. I mean, this is in line with what we expected, and actually quite similar to what we set out in our latest Monetary Policy Report in May, but it's important that we consider those changes," she added.

Figures published on Wednesday showed British inflation fell to 3.4% in annual terms in May, and service price inflation cooled more than expected to 4.7% from 5.4% in April.

(Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David Milliken and Andy Bruce)