CPI is now 2.4 per cent for June, down from 2.8 per cent in May and a third straight month of falling. RPI stands at 2.8 per cent, down from 3.1 per cent, and the lowest level since December 2009. For both measures, the largest downward pressures came from the clothing and footwear, food and fuel categories.
The news leaves both categories firmly withing the 1 percentage point safety band around the Bank of England's two per cent target, and seems to confirm that, as a macroeconomic concern, inflation is under control. This fact is underscored by the Bank's resumption, earlier this month, of its quantitative easing programme, which is normally thought to be highly inflationary. Regardless of the fact that, in the sui generis economic climate, QE has not been as inflationary as expected, the Bank still acts as though textbook economics largely holds.
Below are the levels for CPI and RPI for the last two years:
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