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.

Services Index Increase Of 2.7% In February

All four of the main components of the index of services increased in February 2014 and it resulted in an increase of 2.7% in the total index in February.

The largest effects came from business services and finance with an increase of 1.4% to the total and distribution, hotels and restaurants which contributed 0.7% to total growth. The transport, storage and communication sector added and increase of 0.09% and government and other services 0.44%.

The monthly comparison of figures in the index of services shows that output in services increased by 0.2% between January and February 2014.

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.

e-Commerce Above Estimates But Down On Year

E-commerce accounted for 18% of turnover in 2012 down from 19% in 2011 but above the 2008 estimate of 14%. Business to business electronic data interchange (EDI) sales made up 67% of the total of e-commerce sales and the rest was accounted for by business to household website sales (33%). The website sales accounted for 6%, or £164bn, of business turnover in 2012 compared to 5%, or £134bn, in 2012. Broadband Internet had reached 95% of businesses and 82% had a website.

The largest companies still dominate e-commerce sales with businesses of 1000 or over employees accounting for 51% of all e-commerce sales. Total e-commerce sales amounted to £335bn in 2008, now sales have reached £492bn. Average annual growth between 2008 and 2012 was 10%. Total growth over the period 2008-2012 was 47%.

The highest levels of total e-commerce by industry sector were reported in wholesale and manufacturing with £172bn and £157bn respectively. The accommodation and food services sector reported low sales by comparison with £9.1bn but reported the highest proportional increase of 57% annually.

Website sales have reported steady growth in recent years. In 2008 13% of businesses sold over a website reporting sales valuing £92bn. In 2012 18% of businesses sold over a website with sales of £164bn. The total value of website sales increased to 6% of total business turnover. The largest companies accounted for half of all sales. The smallest businesses accounted for only 0.7% of the total 6% of turnover from website sales.

The wholesale sector reported the highest amount of website sales with £50bn. The retail sector reported the highest proportion of businesses making sales over a website with 34% and construction the lowest with 7%.

EDI sales decreased by £23bn in 2012 to £328bn from £351bn. EDI accounted for 12% of total business turnover in the UK in 2012 (the decrease may be accounted for by things like sampling variability). Only 6% of businesses sold by EDI while three times as many businesses used websites compared to EDI but sales values over EDI were double at £328bn compared to £168bn.

The manufacturing sector made to highest amount of sales in 2012 with £145bn. The wholesale sector followed with £122bn but also saw the biggest decrease in EDI sales value down 14% or £20bn from £142bn in 2011.

Social media or websites and applications that enable users to share content and participate in social networking has enabled businesses to change the way they interact with customers. In 2012, 44% of businesses reported they had used social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Nearly a quarter had used a blog or a microblog such as Twitter. Multimedia content sharing websites like YouTube or Flickr were used by 15% of businesses. Half of large businesses have content sharing websites. The ICT sector had the highest rate of use with 53% and transport and storage the lowest with 5%.

In 2012, 68 of businesses provided NIC details online and 89% of businesses completed their VAT returns over the Internet.

Inflation Rate 2.2% Down From 2.7%

The recent ONS statistical release on consumer inflation suggests that the CPI grew by 2.2% in the year to October 2013 down from 2.7% in September, but still above the Government's target of 2%. The main contributions to the fall in the rate came from transport and education. The CPIH and RPIJ likewise moved in a similar direction with rates of 2% from 2.5% and 1.9% from 2.5% respectively.

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%.

Consumer Price Inflation At 2.4%

The CPI grew by 2.4% on the annual comparison for April 2013 down from 2.8% in March but still above the 2% target set by the Government. The annual rate has however been relatively stable over the last six months. The largest downward contribution came from transport costs, motor fuel and air fares. Food and non-alcoholic beverages provided the only real upward pressure.

Euro Inflation Down 0.1%

Annual inflation in Europe in March, measured by HICPs, fell by 0.1% in both zones to 1.7% in the euro area and 1.9% in the EU27 from 1.8% and 2% respectively in February. Euro area monthly inflation (MUICP) was 1.2% in March and in the EU27 inflation for March was 0.9%.

Greece had the lowest annual inflation rate in March at -0.2%. Latvia reported -0.3%. The highest annual rate of inflation was in Romania with 4.4%. The UK reported no figures. Electricity (0.17%) and package holidays (0.12%) had the biggest impact in inflation while the biggest downward effects came from transport (-0.23%) and telecommunications (-0.22%).

Slight Increase In Services Output

The seasonally adjusted index of services published by the ONS is estimated to have increased by 0.6% in December 2012 compared with December 2011. Three of the four service sector index components increased during the period, most recent month compared with the same month a year ago. The services sector index number for December was 103.7. The index of services has not follwed the line of the double dip recession but has enjoyed a long period of growth and is above its pre-recession peak. The weakness in the economy is coming from other sectors.

The most resilient of the components making up the service sector index has been government and other services. It is now above its pre-recession peak after a period of decline. Not all components have fared so well. Business services and finance are slightly below the pre-recession peak as are distribution, hotels and restaurants and transport, storage and communication. It is to be expected that government services would do well during a recession as services relating to unemployment, careers and skills are in greater demand as automatic fiscal stabilisers come into effect.

The largest contributions to the overall increase came from distribution, hotels and restaurants with a 2% increase and government and other services which increased by 1%. Transport storage and communication increased by 0.5% but business services and finance decreased by 0.3%.

Looking at the quarterly comparison, between Q3 and Q4 services output decreased by 0.1%. The estimate from the GDP preliminary estimate for Q4 of no difference was slightly up on the actual figure. The estimate published is consistent with the second estimate of GDP. When comparing this quarter with the same three months in 2011 output increased 1.2%. The main contributors to the decrease came from government and other services with a decrease of 0.8% and distribution hotels and restaurants with a decrease of 0.5%. Upward pressure came from transport, storage and communication with an increase of 1.2% and business services and finance with an increase of 0.2%. The third quarter figures were helped by the Olympics and Paralympics.

The monthly comparison for December shows that service sector output decreased by 0.4% between November and December 2012 but increased by 0.6% when compared with December 2011. Transport, storage and communication increased by 0.5% during the month but the other three components decreased including a fall of 0.8% in business services and finance.

Estimates Say GDP Down

GDP was estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 comapred with the previous quarter according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS.

The production industries output was said to have decreased by 1.8% over the quarter, construction increased its output by 0.3% but in services there was no change. GDP as a whole remained the same as compared with Q4 2011. Transport, storage and communications increased by 0.7% with the largest contributions coming from motion picture, video and TV and programming and broadcasting. Business services and finance also increased by 0.4% with the largest contribution coming from employment activities. The agriculture sector fell by 0.6% on the same period in the previous year. While agriculture did not contribute to the change in GDP quarter on quarter, on the year on year analysis agriculture decreased by 3%.

The growth rate of the level of GDP was affected by two factors worthy of note. The level of GDP in the third quarter was helped by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and there are some signs of a 'fall back' from these events. The other factor that should be borne in mind was the longer than expected maintenance of the largest North Sea oil field which reduced the oil and gas extraction component for the quarter.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Third Quarter Increase

Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the year to Q3 2012 have been estimated to have been 560.7m tonnes of carbon doixide equivalent (MtCO2e), an increase of 0.3% on the previous quarter (559.1 MtCO2e). The temperature adjusted measure was estimated at 569.6MtCO2e, 0.3% lower than the previous quarter (571.0MtCO2e).

Total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for Q3 2012 have been provisionally estimated to have been 467.7Mt, an increase of 0.4% on the previous quarter (466.1Mt). Temperature adjusted emissions were estimated at 476.6Mt a decrease of 0.3% on the previous quarter (478.0Mt).

Both the actual emissions and the temperature adjusted measure showed only a very small change on the previous quarter and both actual and temperature emissions were similar to the same quarter 2011.

Source sectors' actual CO2 emissions as Moving Actual Total (MAT) show energy supply as the biggest contributor to the 467.7Mt total with 192.1MtCO2e, an increase of 1.3%, followed by transport with 117.9Mt, down 0.5%, business emissions totalled 71.6Mt (-0.8%) and residential emissions 70.1Mt (+0.7%). The public sector reduced their CO2 emissions by 0.5% contributing the least with 7.4Mt with 'other' making up the remainder with 8.7%, a decrease of 0.3%.

Services Output Up 2%

The index of services for October 2012 compared with October 2011 was estimated to have increased by 2% according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. All 4 components increased output: business services and finance by 2.8%, government and other services by 1.8%, transport, storage and communication by 2% and distribution, hotels and restaurants by 0.6%.

On the monthly comparison service sector output was said to have increased by 0.1% between September and October 2012. Business services and finance and transport, storage and communication both grew over the month by 0.8% and 1.1% respectively. Government and other services and distribution, hotels and restaurants both decreased by 0.5% and 1.3% respectively offsetting the increases.

ONS Services Index Up 1.1%

The index of services for September published by the ONS increased by 1.1% compared with September 2011 but is estimated to have decreased by 0.5% between August and September 2012. Three of the four components of the index increased compared with the same month last year. The largest increases were in government and other services with an increase of 2% and hotels and restaurants with an increase of 2.3%. Business services and finance also increased but by a smaller margin of 0.6%. The only sector to report a decrease was transport, storage and communication with a fall of 1.3%.

European Inflation Falls In October

Inflation in Europe fell in October according to Eurostat. Euro area inflation fell 0.1% from 2.6% in September to 2.5% in October. EU annual inflation was 2.6% in October down from 2.7% in September. The annual comparison also shows a decrease in inflation in the euro area from 3% and in the EU27 from 3.4% last year. The lowest annual rates in October were seen in Greece, Sweden and Latvia and the highest in Hungary, Romania and Estonia. The lowest annual averages were in Sweden, Greece and Ireland and the highest in Hungary, Estonia and Poland. In the euro area the main components for annual rates were transport, alcohol and tobacco and housing and the lowest in communiactions, recreation and culture, clothing and household equipment. The monthly rate were mainly affected by clothing and education, alcohol and tobacco and the lowest for transport, communications, recreation and culture and hotels and restaurants.

Estimated 1% Growth In GDP In Q3

GDP was estimated to have increased by 1% in the third quarter of the year compared with the previous quarter according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. Production increased by 1.1%, construction decreased by 2.5% and services increased by 1.3%. Manufacturing contributed the most to the increase in production and agriculture increased by 2.2%. In the services sector distribution, hotels and restaurants grew by 1.6% as did government and other services, business services and finance contributed 1% growth and transport, storage and communiaction 0.8%.

CPI Down To 2.5% In August

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 2.5% in August 2012 from 2.6% in July according to a statistical bulletin from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The main pressure pushing the index down came from furniture, household equipment & maintenance, housing & household services (particularly domestic gas) and clothing & footwear. The downward pressure from these sectors was partially offset by upward pressure from transport (particularly motor fuels).

CPI Inflation Up To 2.6%

There was a rounded up increase of 0.1% from 2.4% in June to 2.6% in July in the CPI between June and July 2012 according to the ONS. The main upward pressure on the CPI came from transport and clothing and footwear. Air fares increased by 21.7% during the period compared with 9.8% a year ago. There were no significant downward pressures on the CPI between June and July.

Inflation Falls For Fourth Month In A Row

The CPI annual inflation fell 0.4% from 2.8% in May to 2.4% in June 2012 according to data from the ONS. The index has fallen for three consecutive months. It at its lowest since November 2009 when it stood at 1.9%.

Clothing and footwear, transport and food and non-alcoholic beverages made the most difference downwards. Upward pressure came from recreation and culture.

RPI stands at 2.8% in June down from 3.1% in May.

Inflation Down To 3%

CPI annual inflation fell 0.5% to 3% in April 2012. Easter had a significant effect on the data. The rate was last lower in December 2009 when it was 2.9%. The index stands at 122.9. The main causes of the decrease in the index were falls in prices in air transport, off-sales of alcohol, clothing and sea transport. Upward pressure came from the operation of personal transport equipment, restaurants and hotels, and rents. The RPI stands at 3.5% down from 3.6% in March. The CPI rose 0.6% between March and April 2012. Transport prices rose by 1.2% the largest contrubutor to which came from fuel costs which increased 2%. Petrol prices went up 3.2% to £1.42/l. Diesel prices rose 2.1% to £1.48/l. The increase in excise duties helped prices of alcohol and tobacco to go up by 2.9%, where tobacco prices increased by 5.1%. Prices of furniture, household equipment and maintenance fell by 1.2%, mainly due to downward prices in furniture and furnishings.

Inflation Stands At 3.4%

CPI inflation stands at 121.8 or a percentage change of 3.4% in February 2012 according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS. RPI inflation stands at 3.7%. The annual rate is the lowest since November 2010.

The biggest downward pressure on the CPI came from domestic electricity and gas, recreation and culture and transport. The biggest upward pressure came from alcohol off sales and vegetables.

On the monthly comparison the CPI rose by 0.6% between January and February 2012 compared with 0.7 a year ago. The biggest upward pressure on the monthly comparisdon came from clothing and footwear, food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and furniture. The biggest downward pressure came from housing and household services.