Consumer Inflation At 3.2%

Annual inflation increased from 3.1% in September to 3.2% last month according to figures released by ONS. The main upward pressure for the change came from petrol and diesel, financial services and games, toys and hobbies (mainly computer games bought in shops rather than online) and the main downward pressure came from food prices. Vegetable prices fell 1% and meat prices were unchanged but went up last year. The index stands at 115.2.

There was an increase of 0.3% over the month. The most significant contributions came from recreation and culture (games, toys and hobbies 1.9% and cultural services 1.7%) and transport (fuels and lubricants 1.8%). Downward pressure over the month came from furniture, household equipment and maintenance (furniture and furnishings -3.4%) and clothing and footwear (-0.7% largely from garments).

CPI At 3% In February

The CPI rose by 3% in the year to February to 112.9. In January it had been 3.5%. The RPI in February was 219.2 an increase of 3.7%. The RPI excluding mortgage interest payments was 4.2% up, down from 4.6% in January.

Recreation and culture provided the main downward contribution as prices remained unchanged over the survey period of January and February. Within this group the games, toys and hobbies sector was the main factor and in particular computer games and pre-school activity toys. Books, particularly non-fiction, also made a significant contribution. Clothing and footwear provided the only upward contribution particularly women's outerwear due to prices rising more than they did last year. Hotel accomodation provided a small upward contribution in the hotels and restaurants sector.

Housing provided the largest upward contribution to the RPI mainly due to mortgage interest payments. House depreciation also had an effect. Clothing and footwear added to the increase in the RPI. Fares and other travel particularly air fares also helped increase the RPI. Downward contributions came from motoring expenses, where fuel price increases were lower than last year, leisure and household goods and off-sales wines and spirits within the alcoholic beverages sector.

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