The cost of living in Britain jumped in November, putting more pressure on families in the run-up to Christmas * Inflation hits 1.2%, the highest since October 2014 * Inflation: the key charts * Unicredit to cut thousand of jobs, and raise €13bn * The agenda: UK inflation, Unicredit, Greece 10.13am GMT DIGGING INTO THE INFLATION REPORT, THE ONS POINTS OUT THAT SOME TECH FIRMS HAVE BEEN HIKING THEIR PRICE BECAUSE OF THE WEAK POUND. Here’s the key section: Prices, overall, increased by 0.5% between October and November 2016, compared with a negligible change a year ago. The upward effect came principally from data processing equipment where prices rose this year but fell a year ago, particularly for peripherals. There have been reports from some IT equipment manufacturers over the last few months of prices being affected by changes in the exchange rate with products generally being priced in US dollars. the upward effect came mainly from clothing (in particular women’s and men’s outerwear) for which prices, overall, increased by 1.6% between October and November this year, compared with a fall of 0.1% between the same 2 months a year ago. Prices, overall, increased by 0.5% between October and November 2016, compared with a fall of 0.2% a year ago. Within this group, the largest contribution to the change in the rate came from prices for furniture and furnishings, particularly leather settees. There was also an upward contribution from non-durable household goods such as household cleaner cream and bleach. The upward contribution to the change in the rate came from motor fuels, with petrol prices rising by 1.6 pence per litre between October and November this year but falling by 1.5 pence per litre a year ago. Similarly diesel prices rose by 2.0 pence this year but fell by 0.6 pence a year ago. Fuel prices tend to reflect movements in oil prices and part of the increase in oil prices during 2016 to date can be explained by depreciation of sterling against the US dollar. Prices, overall, increased by 0.4% this year compared with 0.1% a year ago leading to a small upward contribution to the change in the rate. The main upward effects came from: bread and cereal products such as garlic bread and pizza; and milk, cheese and eggs, particularly milk and yoghurt/fromage frais. These were partly offset by a small downward effect from confectionery. 10.02am GMT THE ONS’S HEAD OF INFLATION MIKE PRESTWOOD, SAYS: “November’s slight rally in the value of sterling eased the inflationary pressure on businesses importing raw materials but consumer prices continued to edge upwards, due mainly to the rising cost of clothing and fuel.” Continue reading...
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