The Consumer Price Index inflation in UK hit 5.4 per cent in December and remains at a near 30-year high after rising to 5.5 per cent in January.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said clothing and footwear were among the factors behind the rise. However, inflation is soaring across the economy, driving CPI up to more than double the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.
As the new inflation figures were released, chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government understands the “pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges but we have listened to people's concerns and recently stepped in to provide millions of households with up to £350 to help with rising energy bills.”
It comes as figures revealed that UK workers took a pay cut in the final three months of last year as the soaring cost of living outstripped wage increases. Latest data from ONS made grim reading for British households, who face the biggest squeeze on living standards in decades.
