This took the annual rate of house price inflation to 5.9 per cent, compared with a 5.0 per cent annual increase in June and the highest since April 2005.The rise followed figures from the Bank on Monday showing a sharp jump in the number of mortgage approvals for borrowers looking to buy in the coming weeks. "A combination of above-trend growth and above-target inflation has finally given the interest rate hawks some serious ammunition."A poll of 46 economists last week showed seven predicting a rate rise when the MPC announces its decision at noon tomorrow. While still a small number, it includes names such as Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland and Investec.The hawks were handed fresh ammunition by figures from Nationwide building society yesterday showing the average price of a home rose 0.8 per cent in July, an acceleration from June's 0.3 per cent. Pressure on the Bank of England to order a rise in interest rates tomorrow rose sharply yesterday after new figures showed a jump in house prices and in the cost of goods leaving factories. The upbeat figures are the latest in a run of positive data that raised speculation that the Monetary Policy Committee will have to act to bring inflation under control after leaving the base rate unchanged for 11 months. The economy is growing well above trend, at a quarterly rate of 0.8 per cent, inflation is well above its 2 per cent target and the housing market and the high street are witnessing a rebound.On the other hand, increases in employment and unemployment and modest rises in average earnings growth show little sign of price increases feeding through to higher wages. "At last it's got interesting," said Andrew Smith, the chief economist at accountants KPMG.

He added that this was likely to continue to increase in the second half before coming back down.Mr Burke said that the group was still on the hunt for acquisitions after walking away from talks with Heath Lambert last month.He added that although Heath Lambert would have been a good strategic fit with the group, there were a number of conditions tied to the deal which made it unattractive.Shares in the company fell as much as 4.7 per cent yesterday afternoon before recovering slightly to close down 12.5p at 357p, giving the group a market value of £754m.. JLT's fund has a deficit of £146m, which the group plans to pay down over the next few years.JLT yesterday revealed a 2.5 per cent fall in first half profits, on the back of a 3.9 per cent rise in turnover. Dominic Burke, the chief executive, said the company's profit margins had been squeezed by increased competition in the sector, which he did not believe would abate before the end of the year.Jim Rush, the finance director, said that the group's expense ratio had also risen over the first half from 83.2 to 85.3 per cent. Although JLT closed its final salary schemes to new members several years ago, 1,000 of its 2,500 existing employees still participate in the old plans. If it suceeds in closing the schemes completely, staff will be moved into a less-generous defined contribution scheme.The news comes just a day after department store group Debenhams announced it was also closing its final salary scheme to existing members, in spite of having no deficit in the fund. Mr Redfern described the market as "solid and stable".In the United States, completions were flat at 1,968 in the half year as interest rates creep upwards.

The insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson became the second company in as many days to take the controversial step of closing its final-salary pension schemes to existing members yesterday, as it unveiled a fall in first-half profits and warned of tough conditions over the months ahead. Even so, Wimpey's US Morrison division benefited from a strong order book and posted a 23 per cent rise in operating profits.. It just means that price rises are generally harder to come by," he said."What you're seeing is prices rising at between 3 and 4 per cent, rather than the 9 to 10 per cent you did before."He ruled out a new housing boom this year, even though the Nationwide building society reported a sharp rise in house prices across the country in July, lifting the annual rate to its highest in a year. Its new chief executive, Peter Redfern, said that while affordability was now less of an issue in and around London, there were still some concerns in the Midlands and northern England."The combination of deposit and monthly payments is stretching for parts of the marketplace It's not causing it to creak and stop. The group set a 25-year record by completing 7,822 homes and beat City forecasts with a 25 per cent rise in pretax profits to £152m in the half year to 2 July. However, the housebuilder admitted it was finding it hard to achieve higher prices in some areas of the country.