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UK inflation rate climbs to 9.1% and is expected to continue rising

Britain’s inflation rate hit a new 40-year high of 9.1% in the 12 months to May, figures showed on Wednesday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine sent food and fuel prices down. higher than ever.

The Office for National Statistics said consumer price inflation rose slightly from 9% in April, the highest level since 1982.

“Continued food prices and record-high gasoline prices are offset by a smaller increase in the cost of clothing than this time last year and the often volatile price of computer games,” said chief economist Grant Fitzner. “

The increase is in line with analyst expectations and signals no quick end to the cost-of-living tightening that millions of people in the UK are facing. The Bank of England said inflation could hit 11% in October when the limit on domestic energy bills is raised.

Jack Leslie, senior economist at The Resolution Foundation, which studies economic inequality, said inflation is likely to climb even higher in June due to “a huge spike in gasoline prices over the past month.” “.

“With the economic outlook so clear, no one knows how high inflation can go, and for how long it will continue – making judgments about fiscal and monetary policy very peculiar,” he said. particularly difficult”.

Inflation is skyrocketing around the world: The US reported an 8.6% rate in May and the 19 euro countries recorded 8.1% inflation in the same month.

Canada’s report for May, released on Wednesday, showed an increase of 7.7%.

Opposition targets Conservative government

The UK economy initially bounced back strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic but the combination of labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, inflation and post-Brexit trade issues has compounded problems. complex.

Millions of people in the UK, like those across Europe, are seeing their cost of living soar, in part because Russia’s war in Ukraine is draining staple food and energy supplies. like wheat.

Pressure is on British workers to seek substantial wage increases, a move the Conservative government says could trigger a wage price spiral, sending inflation even higher.

Tens of thousands of railroad workers will be out of work for three days this week in the country’s biggest transit strike in three decades, and a potential precursor to a summer of disgruntled labor.

Labor was quick to capture the numbers, with financial critic Rachel Reeves describing it as “the result of a decade of Tory mismanagement of our economy.”

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