Category Archives: Inflation

Unprecedented inflation ahead as Ukraine war adds to costs, says Unilever

Posted on by

Rise in energy and ingredient costs suggests consumers will have to pay more for well-known brands

The consumer goods firm Unilever has said “unprecedented cost inflation” lies ahead as Russia’s war on Ukraine has added to a surge in energy and ingredient costs, and said that shoppers will pay even more for well-known brands in the coming months.

The company, which makes goods ranging from Dove soap to Magnum ice-cream and Marmite, said on Thursday it expected its costs to rise by €2.7bn (£2.3bn) in the second half of 2022, after an already steep increase on the €2.1bn expected for the first half.

Continue reading...

Shelf shock: soaring supermarket prices shoppers find hard to swallow

Posted on by

From dog food to coffee, readers are reporting some basic goods’ prices are rising by far more than inflation

Inflation is rampant, and supermarket prices are no exception. Shoppers are returning to stores to find old favourites have leapt in price from one week to the next. The cost of consumer goods is spiralling at such a rate that retail analysts have coined a new term, shelf shock.

Nestlé, the owner of KitKat, Häagen-Dazs and Felix cat food, became the latest consumer goods group to warn of more pain to come on Thursday, saying it had raised prices by 5.2% in the first three months of this year and that rising production costs would force another increase soon.

Continue reading...

UK consumer confidence even lower than in 2008 financial crisis

Posted on by

Slowdown in retail sector feared as public gripped by pessimism about the economy as well as personal finances

Fears that Britain is heading for a marked slowdown in consumer spending have intensified as it emerged that the public is gloomier about the economy than when banks were on the brink of collapse during the financial crisis of 2008.

A combination of rocketing energy prices, higher taxes and a surge in the annual inflation rate to its highest level in three decades meant confidence was in freefall, according to the latest monthly snapshot of sentiment.

Continue reading...

Up, up and away: will rising prices blow Democrats’ midterms hopes off course?

Posted on by

Inflation hit 8.5% in March as a mix of post-pandemic demand, price gouging and the Ukraine war dragged down Biden’s ratings

In the days leading up to the release of the US labor department’s latest inflation report, the White House tried to deflate expectations. White House officials said they expected the March inflation rate to be “extraordinarily elevated” because of rising gas prices, driven largely by war in Ukraine.

Unfortunately for Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats, they were proven right. The inflation report, released on Tuesday, showed US prices increased by 8.5% between March 2021 and March 2022 – the highest level of US inflation since 1981.

Continue reading...

Democrats fear soaring inflation could bring midterm election losses – live

Posted on by

Democrats warn president to fix inflation or say goodbye to control of Congress as wholesale prices surge record 11.2% in March

The federal mask mandate for travelers will be extended by a further two weeks as the government assesses the recent uptick in Covid-19 cases across the US, multiple news sources are reporting.

An official announcement from the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) is expected shortly, according to the Associated Press and others.

Continue reading...

Jump in UK wages fails to keep pace with cost of living

Posted on by

Pressure for more support for households and businesses after consumer prices rise 6.2%

Business live updates: jobless rate drops and wage squeeze continues

Britain’s cost of living crisis moved into its fourth consecutive month in February despite a jump in wages and a fall in unemployment to just 3.8%, its lowest level since 1974.

The Office for National Statistics said average earnings growth of 5.4%, including bonuses, failed to keep pace with a 6.2% rise in the consumer prices index in February, while for those who missed out on a bonus the situation was even worse after average wages increased by only 4%.

Continue reading...

High energy-using industries fear lack of support from UK ministers

Posted on by

Firms say they need the kind of help that EU competitors get as gas and electricity prices soar

Britain’s strategic heavy industries have warned they risk being left high and dry by a lack of support in the government’s upcoming energy strategy, warning that failure to follow European countries’ measures to reduce gas and electricity costs will put UK businesses at risk.

The government is expected to outline long-awaited proposals this week for a once-in-a-generation drive to invest in nuclear power and possibly more onshore wind and solar power, as well as approving continued North Sea oil and gas exploration.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak tackled over failure to help poorest families

Posted on by

Experts say absolute poverty could hit a fifth of UK population following chancellor’s mini-budget

Rishi Sunak has sought to defend his mini-budget against accusations he failed to shield Britain’s poorest families from the worst hit to living standards in six decades, as economists warned 1.3 million people will fall into absolute poverty next year.

Amid heavy criticism of Wednesday’s spring statement from opposition leaders and his own back benches, experts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and Resolution Foundation thinktanks said the chancellor could have done more to help those most at need.

Continue reading...

Upshot of Rishi Sunak’s spring statement? A bleak decade ahead

Posted on by

Analysis: Britain has ceased to be a country where workers can expect to get better off year after year

Much has been written about the year of economic misery ahead. Rishi Sunak’s attempts to mitigate the impact of the squeeze on living standards have been pored over and – generally – found wanting. The postmortem examinations carried out on the chancellor’s spring statement were unflattering.

There was plenty for the thinktanks that specialise in analysing tax, spending and living standards – the Resolution Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies – to mull over.

Continue reading...

Raise benefits and pensions to help lower earners, thinktank tells Rishi Sunak

Posted on by

Resolution Foundation says pegging benefits to inflation will target help to needy better than scrapping NI rise

Rishi Sunak should consider raising benefits and pensions to keep pace with inflation, research has suggested, as the chancellor faced increasing pressure to tackle the cost-of-living squeeze in this week’s spring budgetary statement.

Increasing benefits by an extra five percentage points, by 8.1% rather than the 3.1% currently planned, would give four times as much help for low-to-middle income households for every pound spent as scrapping the planned national insurance rise, the Resolution Foundation said.

Continue reading...

US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for first time since 2018

Posted on by

Fed raises rates by a quarter percentage point from near zero as central bank struggles with inflation, the war in Ukraine and Covid

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time since 2018, as the central bank struggles with soaring US inflation, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus crisis.

The Fed raised rates by a quarter percentage point from near zero, in what is expected to be the first in a series of raises in the coming months.

Continue reading...

UK wages fall at fastest rate since 2014 as cost-of-living squeeze bites

Posted on by

Unemployment rate falls below pre-Covid level but rising prices and energy bills hitswages

Unemployment in the UK has fallen below pre-Covid levels, but high inflation amid Britain’s cost of living crisis means average wages fell at the fastest rate since 2014.

The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in the three months to January, dropping below the 4% rate in February 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the UK.

Continue reading...

US inflation jumped to 40-year high of 7.9% last month

Posted on by

The rise was propelled by increased prices for gas, food and housing in the sharpest spike since 1982

Propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, consumer inflation jumped 7.9% over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982 and likely only a harbinger of even higher prices to come.

The increase reported Thursday by the labor department reflected the 12 months ending in February and did not include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Since then, average gas prices nationally have jumped about 62 cents a gallon to $4.32, according to AAA.

Continue reading...

Pandemic, war and a rocky economy loom large over Biden’s first state of the union

Posted on by

White House officials say president will steer conversation toward economic progress rather than pessimism

Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday before a bitterly divided Congress, seeking to inspire a pandemic-weary nation deeply unhappy with its leaders and government, while projecting strength to the world after Russia unleashed the largest land war in Europe since the second world war.

The prime-time address comes at a precarious moment for Biden and the world. Speaking in the House chamber, Biden will interrupt harrowing coverage of combat in a European capital, as evidence builds that Russian attacks are striking civilian areas and Russian president, Vladimir Putin, threatens nuclear war.

Continue reading...

Fears for Democrats’ midterm hopes as US inflation hits 40-year high – live

Posted on by

Joe Biden acknowledged that rising prices in the US are having a significant impact on families’ budgets, even as the American economy more broadly continues to recover from the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

“On higher prices, we have been using every tool at our disposal, and while today is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table, there are also signs that we will make it through this challenge,” Biden said in a new statement.

Continue reading...

US inflation hits highest level in 40 years in January as prices rise 7.5% from 2021

Posted on by

Inflation has been driven higher by soaring demand and lack of supply caused by Covid pandemic’s global impact on trade

Inflation in the US climbed to its highest level in 40 years in January, with prices rising by 7.5% from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday.

The rise in the consumer price index (CPI) survey – which measures the costs of a wide variety of goods – was the largest since February 1982. CPI rose 0.6% from December, higher than expected.

Continue reading...

The rise in global inflation – the hit to living standards across the world

Posted on by

Analysis: From Pakistan to the US, Australia to Germany, the cost of living is rising to new highs and causing new hardships

After decades lurking in the shadows, inflation is back. On Amazon, you can find fridge magnets printed with words spoken 40 years ago by Ronald Reagan, before the election that swept him into the White House.

“Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.”

Continue reading...

Japan’s favourite snack falls victim to global inflation with first-ever price hike

Posted on by

Umaibo, a crunchy corn snack that means ‘delicious stick’, increases in price from ¥10 to ¥12 – the first rise in the face of higher import costs

One of Japan’s best-loved snacks is to go up in price – by a whopping 20% – for the first time since its launch more than four decades ago,

But Umaibo – literally “delicious stick” – will still be a steal for schoolchildren at just ¥12 apiece (US10c, not including sales tax), up from the current ¥10, when the change goes into effect in April.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden appears to mock Fox News reporter in hot mic moment – video

Posted on by

Joe Biden has been caught on a hot mic apparently referring to a Fox News reporter as a 'stupid son of a bitch'. As journalists left a meeting, the Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy asked whether Biden thought inflation was a political liability ahead of the midterms. 'No, it’s a great asset – more inflation,' Biden appeared to respond sarcastically over a din of reporters shouting questions, apparently not realizing his microphone was still on. 'What a stupid son of a bitch,' he added

Continue reading...

So no one’s going to Davos: our guide to the big issues that won’t be tackled

Posted on by

We bring you Not the World Economic Forum, where monetary hawks fly and bankers explain why China is all right, really

The purpose of this column is usually fairly clear: to look ahead at the biggest event in the coming week. But this time we are breaking with tradition to bring you the week’s biggest non-event: Davos.

Every year the great and the good gather in the Swiss Alps at the grandly titled World Economic Forum to give their answers to the big questions. But Covid-19, running now into its fourth calendar year, has seen it called off again.

Continue reading...