Consumer Inflation Rises In April To 1.8%

The consumer prices index (CPI) for April hit 1.8%, according to officially released figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was a rise of 0.2% on the March figure.

The rise was more than expected, up from its lowest level in more than four years.

Chancellor George Osborne called March's figure of 1.6% "welcome news for families" and will now be under pressure to address the rise.

The ONS said the late Easter break helped push up the cost of travelling.

Fuel prices were flat in April, compared to a 2.1p per litre month-on-month fall recorded in 2013.

Food prices, especially for vegetables, helped cap the rise. Vegetables dropped 2.3% between March and April and fish prices dropped 3.4%.

Non-alcoholic drinks and food inflation fell 0.5% in the month, but it is unclear if this was due to increased competition in the supermarket sector.

Core CPI, which excludes food and other household components, rose 2% - the strongest rate since September.

The Chancellor is under pressure to explain the inflation-wage disparity

The Bank of England (BoE) target for inflation is 2% and the CPI has now been below that figure for five months.

The CPI's six-month period of falls has now come to an end.

Weaker price growth has helped salaries and wages recoup lost ground since the 2008 financial crisis.

However the latest figure show wage increases in April of 1.7% have now lost out to inflation again.

The separate measure of inflation known as the retail prices index (RPI) remained static at 2.5%, according to the ONS.

The RPI includes housing costs in the calculation.

Meanwhile, the ONS said house prices were up 8% in March, year-on-year, slowing from a 9.2% figure in February.

The low level of inflation is helping the BoE to keep the base rate at its historic low of 0.5%, which have a direct impact on mortgage rates offered by lenders.

Responding to the unplanned CPI rise, Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Last month we were told the living standards crisis was over, yet one month later real wages are falling again.

"Even on a measure that excludes the cost of housing, prices are rising faster than wage packets.

"It will be years before workers even recover the earnings they have lost since 2008, let alone start to feel any better off."

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