The Bank of England raised interest rates on Thursday, its 12th consecutive increase, as Britain’s inflation rate remained stubbornly in the double digits.The central bank also upgraded its economic forecasts for the British economy — removing any prediction of a recession — thanks in part to falling energy prices.The improved outlook offers some good news amid a stronger labor market, but food prices remain elevated, and policymakers said the slowdown in food inflation would be more gradual than they expected.Policymakers lifted the central bank’s key interest rate a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 percent, the highest since 2008. The long and aggressive policy tightening has continued as Britain experiences inflation that is higher than in the United States and Western Europe. Consumer pric …
