Inflation rises to 5.1% higher than expected | Business News

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Inflation rose to 5.1% last month, hitting its highest level in a decade as cost of living pressures intensified on families.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose in November from 4.2% in October and ahead of expectations for it to reach 4.7%. It has not been higher since September 2011.

It comes a day before the Bank of England’s latest decision to raise interest rates, with officials under pressure to act to curb rising rates but reluctance to jeopardize an already faltering economic recovery.

Image: Fuel prices have skyrocketed

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) crystallize some of the pressures facing families as the UK heads into another festive Covid-stricken period and Boris Johnson’s government takes political blows.

Experts had been expecting inflation to head north at 5% — but not until next spring.

“A wide range of price increases contributed to another sharp rise in inflation, which now stands at its highest rate in more than a decade,” said Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics.

The data indicated increases across a wide range of categories including fuel – which set a record in November – as well as fashion, food and used cars.

Meanwhile, the costs of factory-produced goods and the price of raw materials — factors likely to put more pressure on consumer prices in the coming months — are also on the rise, reaching their highest rate in at least 12 years, the ONS said.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “We know how difficult rising inflation is for families and families, which is why we are spending £4.2 billion to support living standards and provide targeted measures for the most vulnerable during the winter months.

“With the resurgence of the virus, the most important thing we can do to protect the economic recovery is for everyone to be strengthened now.”

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