UK inflation grew by 2.7 per cent in the year to May 2013, up from April‘s seven-month low of 2.4 per cent as record air fares and fuel prices impacted consumer price inflation (CPI), new data released today reveals.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), air fares increased 22 per cent on the month, causing the largest upward contributions to the change in rate while clothing also affected CPI.
Clothing & footwear prices rose by 1.2 per cent between April and May this year as prices of women‘s outerwear rose in 2013 but fell a year ago.
The largest downward contribution came from food as and a statement from the ONS explained: “Overall prices for this category were unchanged between April and May this year compared with a rise of 0.3 per cent between the same two months in 2012.
“The downward effect came from a variety of food categories – most notably sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate & confectionery, meat and vegetables.
“This was partially offset by a small upward effect from non-alcoholic drinks.”
Inflation is expected to top three per cent later this year, the Bank of England has said and analysts have noted that recent trends are cause for optimism about the country‘s economic position.
Gerard Lane, analyst at Shore Capital, said: “With house prices rising and banks appearing to be more willing to lend for mortgages in conjunction with a period of low inflation this should be positive for consumer confidence and activity,”
