The YoY inflation in the United Kingdom stood in February at the 10.4%, compared to 10.1% in Januaryafter registering three consecutive months without promotionsreported this Wednesday the National Statistics Office (ONS, in English).
“The rise responded to a increase in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beveragesespecially vegetables due to bad weather in Europe, which caused a drop in the arrival of food from European countries,” said ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner.
The increase also responded to the rise in alcohol prices that is sold in the “pubs” (bars) and restaurants, he added.
“The fall in inflation is not inevitable, so we must stick to our plan to cut it in half this yearsaid British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt.
“We recognize how difficult things are for families across the country, so as we work to control inflation, we will help with cost-of-living measures,” he added.
In monthly terms, prices recorded an increase of 1.1% in the second month of the year, after the rise of 0.8% in January.
The acceleration of the rise in prices in the month of February complicates the decision of the bank of englandwhich will meet this Thursday to evaluate its monetary policy amid the recent financial tensions, after raise interest rates up to the current 4%.
In February, the year-on-year rise in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages accelerated to 18%, compared to 16.7% in January, while housing supplies increased their cost by 26.6%one tenth less than the previous month.
For his part, he Consumer price index core, which excludes the volatility of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, stood at the 6.2%four tenths above the reading for January.
Last week, Hunt told Parliament that The United Kingdom will avoid entering a technical recession this year -two consecutive quarters of economic contraction-.
Due to the increase in the cost of living, the United Kingdom has experienced a series of strikes in recent months that have been supported by different sectors -postal staff, trains, buses, health or public officials- in demand of a salary increase.
The ONS reported on Tuesday that the UK unemployment rate stood at 3.7% between November 2022 and January 2023the same as in the previous quarter.
Inflation around the world reached the highest levels in decades last year as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent energy and food prices soaring.
(With information from EFE, AFP and Europa Press)
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Source-www.infobae.com