UK inflation rises to fresh 40-year peak of 9.1% as cost of living crisis worsens – as it happened
- Higher food, energy and record petrol prices push up inflation
- Some Asda shoppers set 30 limits at the tills, says Lord Rose
- Europe needs to ready for Russia to turn off all gas exports, says IEA
- Stocks, sterling, euro sell off amid growth fears and higher UK inflation
- Moderna to build new mRNA vaccine centre in Britain
- Closing summary
While food, energy and petrol costs all rose, games and toys became cheaper in May, reflecting price changes for computer games, particularly downloads. Overall prices fell by 2.4%, compared with a rise of 2.8% a year earlier.
However, the ONS warned that price movements for computer games can sometimes be large, depending on the bestseller charts, so short-term movements need to be interpreted with caution". Prices of television also fell.
I know that people are worried about the rising cost of living, which is why we have taken targeted action to help families, getting 1,200 to the eight million most vulnerable households.
We are using all the tools at our disposal to bring inflation down and combat rising prices - we can build a stronger economy through independent monetary policy, responsible fiscal policy which doesn't add to inflationary pressures, and by boosting our long-term productivity and growth.
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