a month ago we learned it had fallen to 8.7%, but food price inflation was over twice that, hurting many consumers even harder. one pizzeria owner, sergio from brighton, has been telling the bbc how inflation has been affecting his business costs that he has to pass onto consumers. we noticed that, after the first lockdown, let s say the tomato went from £20 per case to 25, and today reached £39 per case. bags of flour from £20, £21 per bag now we paid £32 per bag. another thing that is affecting is the salaries, as well the wages went up. the minimum wage is growing year by year. and this year, i think was 9% more for the minimum. so everything is affecting the price of our pizza. that is a business meant sharing impact on him. now, another area where many british households are facing the pinch is in housing costs. one mp is warning a mortgage time bomb is about to explode with mortgage rates rising. for those who are renting, many pay more still with the ave
let s start in the us where inflation has been falling for the 7th month in a row. the rate forjanuary stands at 6.4% down from a peak of 9.1% injune last year. but the latest report from the us labor department also showed the pace of that slowdown is starting to ease. the bbc s north america correspondent michelle fleury reports from new york. inflation has been coming down on an annual basis. that s the good news. the bad news on a monthly basis, prices for consumer goods actually rose at the start of 2023, despite an aggressive campaign by america s central bank to bring it down. the consumer price index was up 0.5% injanuary, compared to a revised 0.1% increase in december. the cost of housing was to blame for more than half of the increase. higher food and energy prices also contributed. the stronger than expected report, coupled with a tight labour market, could force america s central bank to raise interest rates more than anticipated. and that certainly spooked i
welcome to the programme. it was budget day here in britain today. a big set piece annual event in which the chancellor stairs into the crystal ball, and tries to predict the future and how best to steer the uk economy through it. the obstacles in his way are common to europe and the united states. high inflation, higher interest rates, and since the pandemic, an intractably acute labour shortage. this graph trackjob vacancies across europe since august 2022, historically high after the pandemic, but you will see the uk, the red line at the very top, is struggling more than most. with 1.1 million vacancies. if more people are employed, more people are paying tax. the good news for the chancellor is that the uk will swerve recession this year thanks to growth returning by the summer. but the economy will still contract by 0.2%. and any brighter news, is tempered by slower growth over the long term. mr hunt said the uk would only grow by 1.8% next year and byjust 2.5% in 2025
clean up the aviation industry? we get airborne to find out. we start in the us where the central bank has raised the cost of borrowing to its highest level in m years as it tries to rein in soaring prices. the federal reserve hiked its benchmark rate by three quarters of a percentage point to a range of between 3% and 3.75%. the feds chair, jerome powell, warned there were more rises to come, but said there is no painless way to get inflation under control. households and businesses here in the uk are also braced for more expensive borrowing with the bank of england widely expected to announce a hefty rate rise in the next few hours. more on that in a moment. first, let s hearfrom our us business correspondent michelle fleury in new york. the message from the federal reserve unmistakable, we are here to fight inflation, this is the first time us central bank has raised interest rates and smudged in response to prices rising at the fastest pace for four decades, prices r