High inflation is creating a toxic mix for families' living standards, says TUC

Brendan Barber

Commenting on the latest inflation figures published today (Tuesday) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which show that RPI inflation fell to 5 per cent and CPI fell to 4.2 per cent in June, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:"The small drop in overall inflation will be of little comfort to families facing soaring food and transport bills.
"The cost of living is still rising twice as fast as wages, so our income squeeze is getting tighter every month and will continue for some time.
"With a weak labour market, growth at a standstill, and both business and consumer confidence down, inflation is the only measure that's bounced back since the recession, creating a toxic mix for families' living standards."
For informationThe latest inflation figures are available at www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/cpi0711.pdf
RPI inflation - the measure most commonly used in wage settlements - fell from 5.2 to 5 per cent in June while CPI inflation fell from 4.5 per cent to 4.2 per cent.
The latest available earnings figures show that total pay (including bonuses) increased by 1.8 between February and April 2011.