Retail price inflation is up

There was a bad start to the year for inflation, official figures show. The annual inflation rate, as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI), was up to 3.3% in January from 3.1% in December 2012.

Rises in alcohol and tobacco prices were the main culprits in driving prices up.

Under the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) — the measure generally used by the coalition government — inflation was unchanged at 2.7% for the third consecutive month.