Labour Research June 2004

Pay and prices

Rising oil prices push up CPI

Oil price hikes leading to dearer petrol and heating costs pushed up inflation in April.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI), the government's preferred measure of inflation, rose to 1.2% in April from 1.1% the previous month.

However, cheaper car insurance and seasonal vegetables helped cut inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index to 2.5% from 2.6%.