UK inflation slowed down slightly in August on lower motor fuel costs as Consumer Prices Index fell to 9.9% in August, down from 10.1% in July.
The July CPI was the highest level since 1982, occasioned by an increase in domestic energy bills and soaring food prices.
Retail Prices Index inflation — which includes mortgage interest payments and is used by unions and employers when negotiating wage increases — remained unchanged at a 1981 peak of 12.3%.
Although motor fuel prices dropped last month, they remain historically very high, while average food prices rocketed more than 13% in August.
Gasoline prices fell 7.5%, to $2.01 a litre in August as oil prices dropped on international markets. While the decline brought welcome relief to drivers, the cost of fuel is still 32% higher than it was a year ago in the UK.
But there was no relief on other energy costs in the U.K. Electricity prices rose 54% in the period, and natural gas prices rose almost 96%.
A jump in the cost of milk, cheese and eggs further drove food prices in the UK up 13.1% in the year through August.
The Bank of England last month ramped up its key interest rate by 0.5 points to 1.75%, the biggest hike since 1995, as it seeks to dampen red-hot inflation.
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