UK inflation drops to 5% in October
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the government’s preferred measure of inflation, stood at 5% in October 2011, down from 5.2% in September – a bigger fall than expected.
Some experts are now predicting the Bank of England’s long-held belief that inflation would soon start a prolonged fall could now materialise.
The Office for National Statistics said the overall slowing in price rises came from falls in the cost of food, air fares and petrol.
The largest upward pressures to the change in CPI annual inflation between September and October came from increases in the cost of clothing, electricity and gas.
The Retail Prices Index (RPI), a wider measure that has traditionally been used in wage negotiations, stood at 5.4% in October, down from 5.6% in September.