LONDON (Reuters) -British shoppers faced increased pressure on their budgets last month after grocery price inflation edged higher again, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 2.3% in the four weeks to Nov. 3, having been 2.0% in the previous four-week period.
The data showed prices are rising fastest in products such as chilled soft drinks and chocolate confectionery, and falling fastest in items such as toothbrushes, household paper products and sparkling wine.
Official data published last month showed overall UK inflation eased to 1.7% in September. Data for October will be published Nov. 20.
UK supermarkets have warned that tax rises in last month’s UK government budget will be inflationary.
Kantar said grocery sales rose 2.0% over the four week period year-on-year to 11.6 billion pounds ($14.9 billion) – the biggest sales month of the year so far.
($1 = 0.7810 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)
