Skip to main content

UK inflation picks up a bit more than expected in October

LONDON (Reuters) - British inflation picked up by a little more than expected in October, pushed higher by prices for clothing and footwear and food as coronavirus restrictions tightened in much of the country, official data showed on Wednesday.

Consumer prices rose 0.7% in annual terms, after a 0.5% rise in September, the Office for National Statistics said. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of 0.6%.

Unlike last year, food prices rose in October and people stocked up on potatoes and fruit.

Some surveys of consumers had pointed to renewed stockpiling as health restrictions spread through Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in October. A one-month lockdown was announced for England at the end of the month and started on Nov. 5.

“The rate of inflation increased slightly as clothing prices grew, returning to their normal seasonal pattern after the disruption this year,” said ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

UK fishing industry disappointed by Brexit deal "fudge"

https://foundflight.com/cities/london/ LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's fishing industry is disappointed that a Brexit trade deal struck with the European Union does not represent more of a reduction in the access that the bloc currently has to British waters, an industry representative said. "The industry will be bitterly disappointed that there is not more of definitive break," Barrie Deas, chief executive of The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, told Reuters. "It's a bit of a fudge." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier on Thursday that Britain had agreed a "reasonable" five-and-half-year transition period with the EU over fisheries, longer than the three years it wanted but shorter than the 14 years the EU had originally asked for. Deas said the biggest concern for the industry was likely to be a decision to allow EU fishing boats to continue to operate up to six miles from the coasts of the United K...

With Senate on the line, Trump's claims of election fraud put Georgia Republicans in bind

(Reuters) - The baseless attacks by President Donald Trump on the U.S. election may jeopardize Republican hopes of retaining Senate control, as Republican candidates in Georgia's twin January runoffs try to push voters to the polls while amplifying Trump's argument that the system is rigged. At Trump's order, the state on Tuesday began tallying its 5 million ballots for a third time, which officials believe would once again validate the statewide win of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. That has threaded the needle on the campaign trail with Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, labeling themselves a last bastion against Democratic priorities without directly acknowledging that Trump lost the Nov. 3 election. For each party, the Jan. 5 runoffs are critical; while Biden carried the state narrowly, Georgia hasn't elected a Democratic senator in two decades. Losses by both Perdue and Loeffler would make the Senate deadlock, giving the tie-breaking vote to Vice Pr...

Britain's navy in the event of a no-deal Brexit to defend fishing waters

LONDON (Reuters) - In the event that the Brexit transition phase ends on Dec. 31 without an agreement on future relations with the European Union, four Royal Navy patrol ships are on standby to defend Britain's fishing waters, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said. The step attracted criticism from lawmakers within the Conservative Party of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but was brushed off by the French government. "Keep calm and carry on," said an Elysée official, using a British wartime slogan. Where no trade agreement is reached, questions are raised about potential skirmishes between British and international fishing vessels, with current transitional rules allowing EU boats access to British waters set to expire by the end of the year. "An MOD spokesman said The MOD has carried out comprehensive training and preparation to ensure that Defence is ready at the end of the Transition Phase for a variety of scenarios. The 80-meter-long navy vessels would h...