Inflation Rates Circular

Circular No. NP/097/10/MC

18th May 2010

TO: ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL ORGANISERS, REGIONAL COUNCILS, & COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES.

Dear Colleagues,

Inflation Rates Circular

The April rates of RPI and CPI were published by the Office for National Statistics on the 18th May 2010. The next publication date is the 15th June 2010. The April 2010 retail prices index rate is 5.3%. This is up from 4.4% in March. The Government’s preferred measure of inflation, CPI, is at 3.7%, up from 3.4% in March.

There most significant changes came from:

· clothing and footwear where prices, overall, rose by 2.2 per cent between March and April this year but rose by only 0.2 per cent a year ago; this was mainly due to garments and, in particular, women’s clothing.
· food and non-alcoholic beverages, mainly due to the food component where upward effects were widespread rather than from one particular food group. Reports have suggested that the closure of European airspace as a result of the Icelandic volcano had a limited impact on food prices in April.
· alcoholic beverages and tobacco where prices, overall, rose by 2.1 per cent between March and April this year (driven by the increases in excise duty that came into force towards the end of March) but were unchanged a year ago

In pay submissions the RMT will continue to emphasise that your financial commitments have increased at a much greater rate than inflation and your living standards have suffered as a result.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow

General Secretary