Inflation jumped to a 14-month high in June, rising to 2.9% up from May’s 2.7% as clothing and footwear drove prices up.

According to the Office for National Statistics the CPI rate of inflation is still below that recorded at the beginning of 2010 and spring 2012.

Clothing and footwear price falls were “not as steep” in June compared to last year, when Sales began earlier than usual. In June last year the scale of promotions run by clothing retailers was the “largest on record”, according to the ONS.

Downward pressure on the rate of inflation came from food and non-alcoholic drinks, particularly vegetables, fruit and bread and cereals. Overall across the category prices fell 0.5% between May and June 2013 compared with a smaller fall of 0.1% last year ago.

Meanwhile the headline rate of retail price index (RPI) inflation rose to 3.3% in June, up 0.2% from the May figure.

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