Inflation rates in the UK showed marginal improvement in July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) bulletin, falling prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages partially offset the rise, which was largely due to a smaller fall in clothing and footwear prices than previous months.
Other upward contributions included transport services, with overall prices rising by 6.6% between June and July. Recreation and culture prices also rose by 0.2%, largely due to computer games and consoles.
Richard Campbell of the ONS said: ‘This is the sixth month running that headline inflation has been at or very close to zero.
‘While households will have seen individual prices rise and fall, the overall shopping basket bought by the country remains little changed in price compared with a year ago.’
BBC Business Editor Robert Peston said: ‘The rise in core inflation tells us that domestic demand for goods and services, from consumers and businesses, is reasonably robust. Which is a good thing: it underpins our economic recovery’.