Food prices jumped 19.2% in the 12 months through February, the biggest increase since August 1977, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. Overall, consumer price inflation eased to 10.1%, from 10.4% the previous month, as the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel fell. The British government and Bank of England are struggling to prevent price increases triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from becoming embedded in the economy. While the UK’s inflation rate has remained above 10% for eight of the past nine months, inflation slowed to 5% in the U.S. and 6.9% in the countries sharing the euro last month. The Bank of England has approved 11 consecutive interest rate increases in an effort to tame inflation.

Source: The Guardian April 20, 2023 03:51 UTC