U.K. Shop-Price Inflation Slows to 1%, Least in 2 1/2 Years

U.K. shop-price inflation cooled to its lowest in 2 1/2 years in July as stores cut prices for food and groceries, the British Retail Consortium said.

Retail prices rose 1 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 1.1 percent gain in June, the trade group and Nielsen Co. said in a report in London today. That’s the smallest gain since November 2009.

Food-price inflation slowed to 3.1 percent from 3.5 percent, while non-food prices fell an annual 0.3 percent.

“Extra promotions, particularly linked to party food and this summer’s big events, are combining with past falls in commodity prices which are working their way through to shop prices,” BRC Director General Stephen Robertson said in the report. “But the relief may not last. Poor harvests, especially of corn and wheat in the U.S., are creating a build-up of inflationary pressure.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Ryan in London at jryan13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net