Cost of living crisis intensifies as inflation hits 10.4 per cent
Rising clothing and and food prices have pushed inflation up to 10.4 per cent in February, new figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show this morning (March 22).
Consumer prices jumped from 10.1 per cent in January, with food and non-alcoholic drink inflation rising to 18.2% in the year to February, while clothing and footwear costs were up by 8 per cent over the same period. Other contributory factors were price rises in electricity and gas.
The rise will intensify the cost of living crisis and come as a surprise to City analysts who were expecting inflation to fall to 9.9 per cent.
ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: “Inflation ticked up in February, mainly driven by rising alcohol prices in pubs and restaurants following discounting in January.
“Food and non-alcoholic drink prices rose to their highest rate in over 45 years with particular increases for some salad and vegetable items as high energy costs and bad weather across parts of Europe led to shortages and rationing.
“These were partially offset by falls in the cost of motor fuel, where the annual inflation rate has eased for seven consecutive months.”
Metro Mayor Dan Norris argued that after 13 years of a Conservative government many West of England families were now “feeling worse off” as he laid the blame at the door of Downing Street.
He said: “We’ve all seen those sky-high prices in our local supermarkets – these are huge jumps compared to where we were 12 months ago. These latest figures will come as a sucker punch to hard-pressed West of England households. It shows the cost-of-living crisis is still biting hard – whatever the Government might think.
“Yet did the Chancellor choose to support hard-pressed locals in his Spring Statement? No – he chose to use the Budget to hand a £1bn bung to the top 1 per cent. Enough is enough. Ministers must bring forward Labour’s plan to drive up pay, transform workers’ rights and deliver good working conditions for all.”
