MNI: UK Shop Price Deflation Eases A Touch In Jan - BRC

--UK Jan Shop Prices -0.5% y/y Versus -0.6% Dec

By David Robinson

     LONDON (MNI) - UK shop prices fell 0.5% on the month in January to stand

down 0.5% on the year, with yearly deflation easing a touch from the 0.6% seen

in December, data from the British Retail Consortium showed.

     Food price inflation accelerated in January, while non-food deflation

eased. Food inflation year-on-year rose to 1.9%, up from 1.8% in December, the

highest such reading since October 2017. The BRC's non-food Shop Price Index

(SPI) rose to -1.9% on the year from -2.1%.

     The SPI covers only a slice of the UK consumer price basket, with the

non-food element of the SPI covering some of the same ground as core goods

inflation in the official data. Non-energy industrial goods held steady at 2.5%

on the year in December according to the Office for National Statistics figures.

     The BRC figures showed fresh food inflation eased to 1.7% on the year in

January, down from 2.0% in December while ambient food, that is food altered to

prolong shelf-life, saw yearly inflation rise to 2.2% from 1.7%.

     The data overall are consistent with the picture of UK inflation likely

having peaked, with headline CPI coming in  at 3.0% in December, down from 3.1%

in November with most analysts expecting it to head very gradually lower in

coming months.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2223; email: david.robinson@marketnews.com

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