Inflation in the UK hit a more than 40-year high in April as soaring electricity and gas bills helped push prices up 9% from a year earlier.
The consumer price inflation rate is close to economists’ expectations and is almost double the rate the Bank of England expected six months ago.
With economic activity slowing sharply in the first quarter of the year, the UK economy is suffering from its worst inflation slump – weak growth coupled with high inflation – since the second oil shock in June. the 1970s.
A sharp rise in the cost of living will add to pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to accelerate measures promised to help poorer families and pensioners cope with prices rising much faster than income. their input.
This is an evolving story.
