Latest Average Earnings and Inflation
Rate
Each month the Government (Office for National Statistics: ONS)
report the Retail Prices Index and Labour Market Statistics which
contains unemployment figures and Average Earnings. The
Inflation rate is the percentage change in the index compared with
the same month one year previously and there are three
measures of inflation most commonly referred to which are
The CPI and the RPI are compiled using the same underlying price
data, based on a large and representative selection of
around goods and services for which price movements are
measured in randomly selected areas throughout the UK. To help
ensure that the consumer prices index (CPI) and retail prices index
(RPI) are representative of consumer spending patterns, the items
that are priced in compiling the indices are reviewed each
year.
Current
Rates
RPI
The Retail Prices Index (RPI) "all items retail prices"
index ("headline rate" or RPI inflation) is the most familiar
measure of inflation. It considers the annual rate of increase
in the prices of "all items" in the notional basket of goods and
services bought by consumers. The Government uses it for uprating
of pensions, benefits and index-linked gilts and it is widely
favoured for wage bargaining
RPIX
The "all items excluding mortgage interest payments" (RPIX or
"underlying") measure - as its name suggests - ignores the effect
of changes in mortgage costs (mortgage interest payments)
when interest rates rise or fall. Until December 2003, this
was the Bank of England's official target measure, used to guide
the interest rate decision-making process.
CPI
"consumer prices index" is used as the Bank of
England's official target measure which currently stands at 2 per
cent and mainly used in the public sector. It excludes the
effect of mortgage interest payments and - crucially - the impact
of house price appreciation. The CPI excludes a number of the price
movements measured by the RPI relating to housing costs, for
example, council tax), and in particular to owner occupiers’
housing costs (including mortgage interest payments, house
depreciation and buildings insurance). In addition, the CPI
excludes the annual road fund licence and, from 2006, TV licences
which are classified as taxes in the UK National Accounts, and
Trades Union subscriptions which by convention are not part of
household expenditure. The CPI includes university accommodation
fees, foreign students’ university tuition fees, and unit trust and
stockbrokers’ charges, none of which are included in the RPI.
| 2010 Inflation Rate Release Dates |
|
|
Tues 17 Aug 2010 for the July 2010 CPI/RPI
figure
Tues 14 Sept 2010 for the Aug 2010 CPI/RPI figure
Tues 12 Oct 2010 for the Sept 2010 CPI/RPI figure
Tues 16 Nov 2010 for the Oct 2010 CPI/RPI figure
Tues 14 Dec 2010 for the Nov 2010 CPI/RPI figure
Tues 18 Jan 2011 for the Dec 2010 CPI/RPI figure
|
|
| 2010 Labour Market Statistics
Release Dates |
|
|
Weds 11 August 2010 for the June Labour Market figures
Weds 15 September 2010 for the July Labour Market figures
Weds 13 October 2010 for the August Labour Market figures
Weds 17 November 2010 for the September Labour Market
figures
Weds 15 December 2010 for the October Labour Market figures |
|