Why the rise in UK inflation may be a blip in a downward trend

Is that it? Did the long-awaited rise in living standards last just the six days between the news that earnings had edged up to 1.3% and the latest data from the Office for National Statistics showing that the annual inflation rate has risen to exactly the same level?

Almost certainly not. The October data for the cost of living was certainly a surprise, especially after the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, said last week that he expected to have to write to George Osborne in the new year explaining why inflation had fallen below 1%.