Prices have risen the fastest in 30 years, by 6.2 percent in the last 12 months up to February, according to the OECD.
Fuel, energy, and food costs are soaring.
Rising prices haven’t seen this rapid soar since the 1990s. furthermore, it is not set to slow down; April is marked to see the energy price cap increase, aiding the momentum of the rising inflation.
Mr Sunak said in his Spring Statement that the war in Ukraine had a “significant impact” on the cost of living in the UK.
However, Rachel Reeves said Mr Sunak’s choices “were making the cost of living crisis worse, not better,” warning that Mr Sunak should have put a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady:
“The chancellor has done almost nothing to help families as prices surge. And by holding down pay in the public sector and cutting universal credit, he has made the crisis worse.
“Families need help now. Whoever is chancellor tomorrow should go to parliament with an emergency budget to help with surging energy bills and to get wages rising.”
Inflation in the OECD area climbs further
Inflation in the OECD area hit 7.7 percent in February 2022, according to the OECD.
This was compared with 7.2 percent in January 2022, and just 1.7 percent in February 2021, reaching its highest rate since December 1990.
This increase reflected in part another sharp rise in inflation in Turkey, increasing from 48.7 percent in January to 54.4 percent in February. Excluding Turkey, inflation in the OECD area rose to 6.3 percent, following a rate of 5.8 percent in January 2022.
While energy continued to boost inflation in a majority of OECD countries, food price inflation also showed a notable increase. Excluding food and energy, year-on-year inflation in the OECD area increased to 5.5 percent, after 5.1 percent in January 2022.
Year-on-year inflation in the G20 area also increased in February 2022, reaching 6.8 percent compared with 6.5 percent in January 2022. Outside the OECD area, year-on-year inflation rose significantly in Argentina. It was stable in China and South Africa while it decreased in India.
Wages undoubtedly need to keep up with the rise of inflation.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
