It's a steep fall, but a lot less steep than most had hoped or expected; a Reuters poll of economists predicted 8.2 per cent, while the Bank of England’s more conservative forecast was 8.4 per cent.
Set against those numbers, that result represents a substantial overshoot, especially when you consider that energy – the principal cause of the worldwide inflationary spike – is now playing less of a role, with bills expected to ease compared to last year.
Food prices are picking up the slack, remaining stubbornly high; the official figure came in at 19.1 per cent, barely changed on the previous month’s 19.2 per cent despite the fuss supermarkets have been making about cutting the price of some essentials.
Equally as worrying will be the performance of core inflation, which excludes volatile components such as food and energy. A measure of the underlying inflation in the economy, the expectation was that it would stay flat at 6.2 per cent. Instead, it increased, and sharply, to 6.8 per cent.
This story is from the May 25, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the May 25, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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