Inflation at highest level since 2013

There’s bad news for households this morning following the news that inflation has soared to its highest level since September 2013. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), inflation is now at 2.7 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent in March. This is some way above the Bank of England’s stated 2 per cent goal. A number of factors contributed to the rise, but the main driver was higher air fares. This was largely because the timing of Easter pushed up the price of flights. In addition, tax changes in the Budget added to inflation as did rising costs of energy and clothing. Meanwhile, the retail price index (RPI) measure of inflation, which includes council tax and mortgage interest payments, jumped from 3.1 per cent to 3.5 per cent over the same period. Like the rise in inflation, this was higher than expectations. Azad Zangana, Schroders’ senior european economist, said: ‘Households are being squeezed.