9 Finance Monthly. The Mon t h l y Round -Up According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK inflation jumped to 9.4% in the 12 months to June from 9.1% in May, hitting a renewed 40-year high and placing further pressure on households. The ONS put June’s inflation figure partly down to a 42% year-on-year increase in petrol prices. Last month, average petrol prices stood at 184p a litre, up 18.1p since May alone. Diesel, meanwhile, increased by 12.7p to 192.4p a litre. Food and non-alcoholic drinks were up 9.8% in the year to June, the highest rate since March 2009. Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), commented: “Annual inflation again rose to stand at its highest rate for over 40 years.” “The increase was driven by rising fuel and food prices, these were only slightly offset by falling second-hand car prices.” “The cost of both raw materials and goods leaving factories continued to rise, driven by higher metal and food prices respectively.” “These increases saw raw materials post their highest annual increase on record, with manufactured goods at a 45-year high.” UK Inflation Hits 9.4%As Cost-of-Living Crisis Deepens In June, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 1.3% compared to the 1% increase seen in May, serving as a clear sign that inflation is still running rampant. Compared to one year ago, the CPI hit 9.1% in June, jumping from the 8.6% year-on-year rise seen the month before. The increase maintains the highest inflation seen Political Instability Prompts SoftBank to Hit Pause on Arm’s London Listing in four decades for the US economy. Wall Street analysts had predicted a month-onmonth increase of 1.1% and an annual increase of 8.8%. June’s rise was heavily influenced by higher fuel and food costs. The price of petrol increased 11.2% from May while energy prices rose 60% over the past year. Food prices were up 1% from May and 10.4% over the previous 12 months. Last month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed that policymakers would not allow inflation to overcome the US economy in the long term: “The risk is that because of the multiplicity of shocks you start to transition to a higher inflation regime. Our job is literally to prevent that from happening, and we will prevent that from happening,” Powell said. “We will not allow a transition from a low-inflation environment into a high-inflation environment.”
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