UK: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that inflation jumped to a higher-than-expected 11.1 percent in October – the highest rate since October 1981 and up from 10.1 percent in September. Most economists had been expecting a rise to 10.7 percent.
The data showed lengthy records for the other measures of inflation recorded by the ONS, with the Retail Price Index (RPI) leaping to 14.2% in October from 12.6% in September, while CPI including housing costs (CPIH) rose to 9.6% from 8.8% in September – both the highest since December 1980.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt blamed the impact of the pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine for the spike in prices. “The aftershock of Covid and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is driving up inflation in the UK and around the world,” he said.