What stubbornly high inflation means for YOU: Ruth Sunderland explains
What stubbornly high inflation means for YOU: Group Business Editor RUTH SUNDERLAND explains why there could be more pain to come
The UK is in turmoil following the bombshell news that average prices are 8.7 per cent higher than they were a year ago.
The official consumer prices index measure of inflation (CPI) stuck at 8.7 per cent in May, unchanged from April, according to the Office for National Statistics.
But that 8.7 per cent figure is just an average, and prices for different items are rising at varying rates. For example, energy bills, second-hand cars, flights and recreational spending all helped keep inflation so high in May.
Core inflation – the underlying figure that strips out volatile food and energy prices – is continuing to rise, creating a further headache for the Bank of England on interest rates.
Ruth Sunderland, Group Business Editor at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, explains how inflation has a ‘huge impact’ on families, individuals and businesses and affects wages, spending power and industrial disputes. It has also sent mortgage rates soaring and led to the Bank of England hiking the base rate 0.5 percentage points to 5 per cent today.
Here is what you need to know about why inflation is so high and what is pushing prices up: