Britain's inflation rate picked up for the first time this year in July, leaving many British households still feeling squeezed by prices that are still rising at about the same pace as their salaries.
Official data today also underscore the weakness seen in the country's property market since the 2016 Brexit vote, with house prices rising at their slowest pace in almost five years while prices in London fell at their fastest pace since 2009.
Overall consumer price inflation rose an annual rate of 2.5% in July after holding at 2.4% in each of the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said.
It was the first time since November last year that inflation gained pace in annual terms, showing how slow the recovery in spending power is for many households.
Yesterday, official data showed average earnings, including bonuses, rose by an annual 2.4% in the three months to June, extending a long run of pay increases way below their pre-financial crisis levels.
When the Bank of England raised interest rates for only the second time since the financial crisis earlier this month, it forecast that inflation would rise to 2.6% in July before settling back.
The central bank expects inflation will drift down to just above its 2% target in two years' time as it gradually raises borrowing costs.
But many private economists think inflation will prove to be weaker than the BoE is predicting.
The CPI hit a five-year high of 3.1% in November, when the inflationary effect of the pound's tumble after the Brexit vote reached its peak.
The data show rising prices for computers games - which are often volatile - and transport fares pushed up annual inflation in July.
Some of those increases were offset by falls in the price of clothing and the removal of initial charges for investment in some unit trusts.
The ONS figures suggest there is some pressure in the pipeline for consumers.
Among manufacturers, the cost of raw materials - many of them imported - was 10.9% higher than in July 2017, the biggest rise in more than a year, reflecting a more than 50% jump in oil prices over the period.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected input prices to rise by 10.4%.
Manufacturers increased the prices they charged by 3.1%, weaker than June's 3.3% rise but stronger than the consensus forecast of 3% in a Reuters poll.
The ONS said house prices in June rose by an annual 3% across the United Kingdom as a whole compared with 3.5% in May, the weakest increase since August 2013.
Prices in London alone fell by 0.7%, the biggest fall since September 2009, during the global financial crisis.
