Factory gate inflation nears 6%, ONS figures reveal
Manufacturers felt the squeeze from ongoing hikes in input costs as factory gate inflation figures hit 5.7% in June.
The input price annual inflation rose 17.0 per cent in June compared with a rise of 16.1 per cent in the year to May, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed.
Month on month, the input price measure of UK manufacturers' materials and fuels rose 0.4 per cent in June, the ONS reported.
This increase reflected price rises in crude oil, other imported parts and equipment and imported chemicals.
But despite the rise, the Monetary Policy Committee decided not to raise interest rates from 0.5% last week.
Lee Hopley, chief economist at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, said: "The decision for no change was a sure fire bet. Inflation may still be uncomfortably high, but the outlook hasn't materially shifted. On the growth front however, there are now some emerging signs of weakness at home and abroad."
