UK inflation falls sharply to 6.8% as cost of living pressures ease
UK inflation falls sharply to 6.8% as cost of living pressures ease
Energy costs behind drop in annual rate in July, as wage increases finally overtake price rises
Inflation rates are quoted as rolling annual percentages.
Since 2019, the cost of goods and services has gone up 21.94%.
You can find out more about much the value of your money has decreased over time using the Bank of England's Inflation Calculator at https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
This is the important one. Inflation figures are year-on-year.
If the high rate continues for more than 1y, the hike can be more painful than the YOY number suggests.
as cost of living pressures ease
Like the rest of the media, The Guardian is helping to make out that - as inflation supposedly falls - food and energy prices will fall. That's not what's happening - or will happen. Prices will continue to rise, just not so sharply.
I can't see how "cost of living pressures" will go away without deliberate price cuts. AND THAT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE UK.
Deliberate price cuts and wage rises at the level of inflation.
Yes. Agreed.
But what is that....? The sound of Sunak refusing decent pay rises to public sector workers and allowing the triple lock for Tory-voting old people to add £10 billion a year to government spending.
Or, and now hear me out, wage rises that are a fair bit higher than inflation like boomers enjoyed for most of their lives.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The UK’s annual inflation rate fell sharply to 6.8% in July, down from 7.9% in June, as the drop in energy prices over the past year led to the smallest increase in the cost of living since February 2022.
Financial markets had been braced for a marked easing in upward price pressure last month, and the figure announced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was in line with their prediction.
The ONS said the main reason behind the fall was that the big jump in gas and electricity bills in July 2022 had not been repeated, although there was also a decline in annual food inflation last month to below 15%.
The shadow chancellor added: “After 13 years of economic chaos and incompetence under the Conservatives, working people are worse off – with higher energy bills and prices in the shops.”
Two years ago, inflation measured by the consumer prices index (CPI) stood at 2% – in line with the government’s target – but it rose steadily in the months that followed and hit 6.2% in February 2022.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in that month gave an added boost to inflationary pressure by pushing up global oil and gas prices, and inflation peaked at 11.1% in October before falling back.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Sorry, I'm poor. What does inflation have to do with my inability to buy anything? Will my pay increase, or prices decrease with less inflation?
Prices won't decrease but they are just rising fast instead of really fast which is... progress?!
Technically peoples pay should increase but there will no doubt be a nice lag to that too won't there.