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UK inflation rate more than doubles in April | |
(32 minutes later) | |
Clothes prices rose again in April | |
The annual UK inflation rate more than doubled in April, rising to 1.5% from 0.7% in March, official figures show. | |
The difference was mainly due to price rises this year compared with falls at the beginning of the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics said. | |
It means inflation is now at its highest level since March 2020, at the outset of the covid pandemic. | |
Rising clothing and energy costs were the main factors behind the increase, the ONS said. | |
A rise in the price of crude oil also led to higher petrol prices which were now at their highest level since January 2020, it added. | |
Two weeks ago the Bank of England said that UK inflation is heading above its 2% target and it expected it to hit 2.5% at the end of 2021. | |
That is due to a rise in global oil prices and the expiry in September of covid emergency cuts to value added tax (VAT) in the hospitality sector, as well as comparisons with the pandemic slump of 2020. | |
The Bank thinks inflation will then slip back to 2% in 2022 and 2023. |