Labour Research March 2008

News

Rising food prices trigger inflation rise

Higher petrol prices at the pumps and dearer food pushed the inflation rate higher. In January, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rose by 4.1% compared with 4.0% the previous month.

Meanwhile, inflation under the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which excludes housing costs and is the government’s preferred measure, was up to 2.2% in January from 2.1% in the previous three months.