The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the Consumer Prices Index inflation (CPI) reached 10.1% last month, putting households under even more pressure as food prices spiked and pushed inflation to yet another 40-year high.
The increase was largely down to food prices and staples including toilet rolls and toothbrushes, the ONS said. The measure had been expected to reach 9.8%, according to an average of analysts' estimates calculated by Pantheon Macroeconomics and is the biggest jump in the cost of living since February 1982, when CPI reached 10.4%.
It is also a massive jump from the 9.4% inflation in June. Inflation is expected to fall back a little in August, however, according to estimates it could soar to 13.3% in October when the energy price cap rises again which, according to the Bank of England, could push the UK into a recession.
