Food And Fuel Reduce CPI

CPI grew from 1.2% in the year to September to 1.3% in the year to October according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. So goods that cost £100 last October cost £101.3 this October.

The main contributors to the rise in inflation were smaller falls in the costs for motor fuels and air fares and price rises for computer games.

The three main contributors to annual inflation over the last five years have been housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and restaurants and hotels. Together these three sectors have accounted for nearly half of inflation each month. Food and fuel prices which normally contribute to rises in annual inflation have been helping to reduce it by 0.3%.

FAO FPI Lowest Point Since 2010

The Food Price Index (FPI) published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) fell for the sixth month in a row in September 2014 averaging 191.5 points down 5.2 points from August and 12.2 points from the same time last year. The fall means that the index has now reached its lowest point since August 2010 and makes it the longest continuous period of falls since the 1990s. The five commodity groups that make up the FPI basket showed different degrees and directions of change with sugar and dairy the main contributors to the fall followed by cereals and oils, while meat remained firm.

Inflation Up 1.5%

The CPI published by the ONS grew by 1.5% in the year to August 2014, a fall of 0.1% from 1.6% in July. The largest downward contribution came from a fall in the prices of motor fuel and food and non-alcoholic drinks. These pressures to lower prices were offset by upward pressure from clothing, transport services and alcohol.

CPI Up 1.6% In July

Consumer inflation grew by 1.6% over the year to July 2014, a fall of 0.3% from 1.9% in June. The largest factor in the fall in the rate was the fall in the price of clothing. Downward effects also came from alcohol, financial services, and food product groups. The largest upward effect came from transport.

1.9% Increase In Annual Inflation In June

The CPI grew by 1.9% over the year to June from 1.5% in May with the largest contribution coming from clothing, food and non-alcoholic drinks and air transport. It means that a basket of goods that cost £100 in June 2013 costs 101.90 in June 2014.

OECD Annual Inflation Increases To 2.1%

The CPI for OECD countries increased by 2.1% over the year to May 2014. It had risen by 2% in the year to April. The increase was mainly driven by increases in the prices of energy at 3.4% and food at 2.2% in May. There were diverging patterns across countries such as lower energy and food prices in the EU/OECD countries and higher in non-EU/OECD countries. The monthly comparison shows that excluding food and energy OECD annual inflation fell slightly between April at 2% and May at 1.9%.

Consumer Infaltion Up To 1.5%

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) which measures consumer inflation grew by 1.5% over the year to May 2014, down from 1.8% in April. Transport services costs made the largest contribution. Downward effects came from food and non-alcoholic drinks and clothing sectors. These downward trends were offset by increases in motor fuels and recreation and culture.

Manufacturing Helps Index To Grow By 3%

Output increased by 3% over the year between April 2013 and April 2014 according to a statistical bulletin released by the ONS. All the main sectors increased over the year except electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning. Manufacturing increased by 4.4%.

The main components that contributed to the increase in the manufacturing production index were rubber, plastic and other non-metallic mineral products, transport equipment and food, beverages and tobacco.

The monthly comparison shows that production increased by 0.4% between March 2014 and April 2014. Output dipped in two sectors and the largest contributor to this was mining and quarrying with -1.1% then water supply, sewerage and waste management with -0.7%. Manufacturing increased over the month by 0.4% due to increases in transport equipment, computer electronic and optical products and rubber, plastic and other non-metallic mineral products.

UK Business Spent £3.1bn On Environmental Protection

The total spend of UK businesses on environmental protection in 2012 was estimated to have been £3,159m according to data from Defra. Operational expenditure accounted for the majority of the expenditure with £2,492m followed by capital expenditure with £517m and research and development with £150m. The aim of environmental protection expenditure is to reduce environmental pollution during operations.

The main industries involved in the expenditure were energy production and distribution with 18% and food and drink with 13%. Spending per employee was highest in the water supply and treatment industry and also in energy production and distribution.

EA Inflation Expected To Fall To 0.5%

Euro area inflation (MUICP) is expected to fall to 0.5% in May 2014 from 0.7% in April according to the latest flash estimate from Eurostat. The services sector is expected to have the highest rate in May with 1.1%, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco with 0.1%, non-energy industrial goods and energy bot with 0.0%.

Retail Trade Volumes Up 0.3% Across Europe

March 2014 saw retail trade increase across Europe by 0.3%. In February the increase in trade had been 0.1% in the euro area and 0.3% in the EU28. The annual comparison shows that in March 2014 compared with March 2013 the increase was 0.9% in the euro area and 1.6% in the EU28.

The 0.3% increase in the volume of retail trade on the monthly comparison in the euro area is due to a rise of 1.3% in the food, drinks and tobacco sector while the volume fell by 0.3% in the non-food sector and 0.1% in automotive fuel. In the EU28 the rise was due t rises of 1% for automotive fuel and 0.7% for food, drinks and tobacco.

The biggest increases were seen in Estonia and Latvia with 2.8%, France 2.3% and Romania with 2.2%. The decreases were in Portugal with a decrease of 1.7%, Austria with 0.9%, Germany, Ireland and Slovenia all with 0.7%.

The increase of 0.9% in volume over the year was due to rises of 1.9% in the non-food sector, 0.3% in automotive fuel and 0.3% in food, drinks and tobacco in the euro sector. The increase of 1.6% in the volume of retail trade in the EU28 was due to rises of 3.3% in the non-food sector and 1.8% for automotive fuel. Food, drinks and tobacco fell by 0.1%.

Romania saw the biggest increase with a rise of 13.4% in volume, Luxembourg was next with 12.1% and Hungary with 8.4%. Malta with -2%, Finland with -1.3%, Slovenia -1.1% and Spain with -0.6% saw the biggest decreases in volume of retail trade.

High Street Sales Increase As Prices Lower Than Last Year

Retail volumes increased by 4.2% compared with March 2013. The value of those sales increased by 3.9%. The prices of those goods sold in March decreased by 0.5%.

There are four main retail sectors, three out of the four saw an increase in the amount spent and for every pound spent in the retail industry in March 42p was spent in food stores, 41p was spent in non-food stores, 6p was spent in non-store retailing and 11p was spent in stores selling automotive fuel. The largest increase was in the non-food sector.

Within non-food stores two areas of growth were notable: textiles, clothing and footwear and household goods. In March 2014 the quantity bought in textile, clothing and footwear stores increased by 7.1%, the largest year on year increase since April 2010. he amount spent increased by 7.3% year on year and 4.3% month on month. The quantity bought in household goods increased by 9.2% compared with March last year and the quantity spent increased by 8.5%.

The distribution of sales values according to businesses ranked by size of business according to number of employees shows that businesses with more than 100 employees sales grew by 0.2%, 40-99 employees grew by -7%, 10-39 employees by 6.1% and 0-9 employees grew most with growth of 16.5%.

Output Increase Of 2.7%

There were increases in production output of 3.8% in manufacturing, 8.5% in water and waste management and 0.2% in mining and quarrying which contributed to the increase of 2.7% in total production output over the year between February 2013 and February 2014. Only electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning reported a decrease of 8.8% due it was thought to this year's warmer February.

The main manufacturing sectors that added to the increase over the year were rubber and plastic products, transport equipment and machinery.

Total production over the month between January and February 2014 increased by 0.9% mainly due to increases in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, transport equipment and food, drink and tobacco.

European Retail Trade Up 1.6% In January

European retail volumes were up by 1.6% in the euro area in January compared with December 2013 according to Eurostat. The EU28 reported increases of 0.9%. In January 2014 compared with January 2013 retail trade increased by 1.3% and 1.9% respectively.

The increase in the monthly comparison in the euro area is due mainly to increases in the non-food sector of 1.9%, 1.5% for automotive fuel and 1.1% for food, drinks and tobacco. In the EU 28 the rise is due to an increase of 1.4% for automotive fuel, 1.3% for non-food sector and 0.3% for food, drinks and tobacco.

The main contributors to the 1.3% increase in the volume of retail trade in the annual comparison in the euro area were increases of 2.9% for automotive fuel, 2.5% in the non-food sector while food drinks and tobacco fell by 0.4%. In the EU28 the 0.9% increase was due to increases of 3.6% in the non-food sector, 2.1% in automotive fuel and 0.1% in food, drinks and tobacco.

Manufacturing Leads Growth In Production

Manufacturing made by far the biggest contribution to the overall production output increase of 0.5% with growth of 0.7% between Q3 and Q4 2013 according to data from the ONS.

The annual comparison shows that production output was 1.8% higher in December 2013 than in December 2012. When this is broken down into industry sectors manufacturing rose by 1.5%, mining and quarrying by 2.6% and water services by 7.9%. These rises were offset by a fall of 3% in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning.

Between November 2013 and December 2013 production rose by 0.4% and manufacturing by 0.3%. The manufacture of basic pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical preparations, coke and refined petroleum products and the manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco were mainly responsible for the rise.

The figures are seasonally adjusted.

High Street Sales Up On Last December

Sales volume increased by 5.3% in December 2012 compared with December 2013. Sales value increased by 6.1%. Prices in the retail sector increased by 0.5% according to the implied price deflator.

The various contributions of the four main sectors of the retail industry were, for every pound spent in retail, 42p was spent in food shops, 41p in non-food shops, 6p in non-store retailing and 11p in stores selling automotive fuel.

The amount spent in December 2013's five week shopping period was £44.1bn compared with £30.1bn in November's four weeks and £42.6bn in the five weeks of December 2012. The average weekly spend in December 2013 was £8.8bn, £7.5bn in November and £8.5bn in December 2012.

Average weekly online spend in December 2013 was £675.4m an increase of 11.8% on December 2012. It accounted for 11.8% of all retail spending (excl. automotive fuel). Department stores reported that investment in their websites had increased online sales but detracted from store-based sales.

Consumer Inflation Down To 2% Target

The CPI grew by 2% in the year to December, down from 2.1% in November, due mainly to contributions from the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector and recreational goods and services. Inflationary increases in motor fuels partly offset the downward pressures. Price increases for gas and electricity over the year were slightly more than last year resulting in an upward contribution to inflation. The Bank of England had set a target of 2% for inflation for stability. It is the first time that the CPI has been at 2% since November 2009 (1.9%).

The three main contributors to inflation in recent years have been food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and transport (incl. other fuels). These sectors combined have accounted for more than half of the inflation rate for each month.

Retail Sales Highest On Record

Retail sales volumes increased by 1.9% in May 2013 compared with May 2012 to reach the highest level ever recorded since the series began. Sales value also increased. The amount spent in the retail sector increased by 3.1% to the highest level on record.

The differences in the annual comparison were in the quantity bought from the non-store retailing sector which increased by 19.1% and the amount spent in the food sector which increased by 3.4%.

The monthly figures volumes increased by 2.1% and sales values also increased by 2.1%. The main reason was an increase in the amount of food bought. Compared with April 2013 the quantity of goods bought increased by 3.5% and the amount of money spent increased by 3.4%

The proportion of seasonally adjusted online sales was 9.7%.

Inflation Up To 2.7%

Consumer inflation grew by 2.7% over the year to May 2013 according to a statistical bulletin on the CPI from the ONS. Transport with an increase of 0.4% compared with a fall of 0.8% last year and clothing particularly womens' outerwear with an increase of 1.2% were the main contributors to the increase. Food contributed the biggest downward pressure on the index.

The rate has returned to the levels reached during October 2012 and March 2013 after the rate slowed to 2.4% in April. The monthly rate between April and May increased to 0.2%. April and May 2012 saw a decrease of 0.1%. The government's target is still 2%.

Big Decrease In Food Sales

Sales volumes rose by 0.5% in April 2013 on the annual comparison while sales values increased by 1.3%. The main downward pressure came from a fall in the volume and value of food sales. The quantity of food bought decreased by 3.8% and the amount spent on that food decreased by 0.2%, the largest contraction on record. The level of food products bought is the lowest point it has reached since December 2003. Cold weather was to blame according to the supermarkets.

The monthly comparison shows that the volume of retail sales fell by 1.3% while the value of sales fell by the same percentage. Food sales again made the biggest difference. The volume of food sales fell by 4.1% while the amount of money spent on food fell by 3.5%.