news UK faces ‘bleak winter’ as food prices soar; China’s slowdown deepens – business live | Business

UK faces bleak winter ahead as food prices rocketUK households face a ‘bleak winter’ as prices in the shops continue to accelerate, driven by food.Food inflation has surged to

a new record, with prices jumping by 12.4% over the last 12 months.Items such as eggs, meat, dairy products and coffee shot up, according to the latest data from the British Retail

Consortium (BRC). This lifted fresh food inflation to 14.3%, up from 13.3% last month.These soaring prices are a heavy blow to shoppers in the run-up to Christmas, particularly

poorer households, on top of higher energy bills and falling real wages. Photograph: BRCOverall shop prices are now 7.4% higher than last November, up from 6.6% in October, the

highest since the BRC started crunching its numbers in 2005.Helen Dickinson OBE, CEO of the BRC, warns that Christmas will be pricier this year too.“Winter looks increasingly

bleak as pressures on prices continue unabated. Food prices have continued to soar, especially for meat, eggs and dairy, which have been hit by rocketing energy costs, and rising

costs of animal feed and transport. Coffee prices also shot up on last month as high input costs filtered through to price tags. Christmas gifting is also set to become more

expensive than in previous years, with sports and recreation equipment seeing particularly high increases.Rising inflation means the UK is expected to suffer its worst fall in

living standards since at least the 1950s.A chart showing how UK living standards are set for the largest fall on record in 2023-24Dickinson predicts that many households will cut

back on seasonal spending in order to prioritise the essentials.Retailers continue to do all they can to support their customers and ensure everyone can enjoy the festive season by

fixing prices of many essentials, offering discounts to vulnerable groups, raising pay for their own people, and expanding their value ranges.”Here’s the full story:Updated at

02.17 ESTKey eventsFilters BETAKey events (11)UK (9)Bank of England (3)England (3)Bank of England has 'more to do' on interest ratesThe Bank of England has “more to do” on

interest rates, its chief economist warns.Huw Pill has indicated that borrowing costs will continue to rise to control inflation, but probably not by as much as the financial

markets expected – echoing comments from BoE governor Andrew Bailey earlier this month.BoE's Pill: -Much of the fiscal tightening starts beyond the BoE horizon-Have more to do on

rates in the coming meetings-Base case does not involve rates reaching 5.25%— DailyFX Team Live (@DailyFXTeam) November 30, 2022 Pill also told a conference organised by